Kim Mulkey’s LSU Tigers came in at a No. 3 seed on Selection Sunday for the fourth consecutive season.
The Tigers landed in the Spokane 1 Regional of the NCAA Tournament, but who also landed there will present a fair share of obstacles in LSU’s path to the Final Four.
Those obstacles extend beyond the first two rounds in Baton Rouge, which the Tigers won’t look beyond until they advance. LSU opens the tournament with No. 14 seed San Diego State, and with a win, they’d play the winner of No. 6 Florida State and No. 11 George Mason.
The three teams joining the Tigers at the PMAC for the tournament’s first two rounds present LSU with its challenges.
Florida State, for example, is led by Ta’Niya Latson, who leads the country in scoring with 24.9 points per game. The Seminoles are third in the country in scoring, with 86.9 points per game.
In addition, San Diego State has won its last eight games, including a 72-68 win in three overtimes to win the Mountain West Conference Championship. The Aztecs haven’t lost since Feb. 12, and with the Tigers coming off three losses in its last four games, momentum can be a factor.
Momentum is all a team needs in March Madness, and several teams in the Spokane 1 Regional are trending in a positive direction.
Here are the obstacles LSU faces in its quest to the Final Four:
No. 1 overall seed UCLA
The obvious fit for a significant threat in the Tigers’ regional is UCLA, the No. 1 seed overall in the tournament.
The Bruins took the throne with a 77-62 win over South Carolina in November and remained undefeated until Feb. 13, when they lost to USC by 11 points. Sixteen days later, UCLA lost to USC again, this time by 13 points.
But when it mattered most, the Bruins took down the Trojans in the Big Ten Championship, giving them their 30th win.
LSU saw UCLA last season in the Sweet 16, and LSU escaped with a 78-69 win. The Bruins returned just about all its leaders, including 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts, who averages 19.6 points per game, 9.7 rebounds per game, and ranks fifth in the country with 2.9 blocks per game.
With the Tigers already being undersized in the paint, Betts would provide a significant challenge if that matchup were to happen, which would occur in the Elite 8 if both teams remained standing.
No. 2 NC State
Before then, if LSU wins through the first two rounds, it will likely see No. 2 seed NC State, which LSU saw in November. The Tigers came away with an 82-65 win, giving an, at the time, No. 9 ranked Wolfpack team its third loss.
It’s been a roller coaster ride of a season for NC State thus far, but no one can say it hasn’t been tested. Including LSU, the Wolfpack took on South Carolina, TCU, Ole Miss and Louisville before the New Year, all of which secured No. 7 seeds or higher in the NCAA Tournament.
In conference play, the tests kept coming. Along with Louisville, NC State lost to an, at the time, No. 24 California team but bounced back with wins over No. 10 Duke and No. 22 Florida State.
The Wolfpack then lost to No. 12 North Carolina but bounced back with wins over No. 20 Georgia Tech, No. 1 Notre Dame in double overtime, and No. 14 North Carolina in the ACC Tournament. However, NC State lost to No. 11 Duke in the ACC Tournament.
It is unclear how NC State will perform if it meets the Tigers in the Sweet 16. Assuming it shows up with lots of positive momentum, as it has most times this season, the Wolfpack could be dangerous, led by four players averaging in double figures.
Aziaha James leads NC State with 17.9 points per game, but Saniya Rivers, who averages 11.7 points per game, led the Wolfpack with 21 points against LSU in November.
No. 4 Baylor
While UCLA and NC State are the most significant threats, they and LSU face threats outside the region’s top three seeds.
Baylor is the No. 4 seed. Similar to NC State, Baylor’s season has been up and down. With losses to Oregon, a No. 10 seed in the tournament; Indiana, a No. 9 seed in the tournament; Oklahoma State, a No. 7 seed in the tournament; UCLA, and three losses to TCU, the Bears have also been tested.
However, Baylor has ranked wins over Utah, a No. 8 seed; West Virginia, a No. 6 seed; Kansas State, a No. 5 seed; an overtime win over Oklahoma State; and two wins over Iowa State, a No. 11 seed.
The Bears’ presence in the same region also provides an off-court element. Mulkey’s 21-season tenure at Baylor familiarizes her with the program if that matchup happens, which wouldn’t be until the Elite 8. Baylor would have to take down No. 1 UCLA to get there, giving the Bears some of the most powerful momentum in the country.
No. 5 Ole Miss
While momentum is one of the only things a team needs to make a run in March Madness, familiarity drives positive momentum.
No. 5 Ole Miss has all the familiarity it needs with LSU. Just 18 days ago, the Rebels took down the Tigers after a second-half surge to finish the regular season. However, despite the addition of ranked wins over Kentucky and Vanderbilt, Ole Miss has had a brutal gauntlet to pass through in the regular season.
The Rebels started the season by losing to USC, the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Just over two weeks later, they lost to UConn, the No. 2 seed, who was ranked No. 2 in the country then.
Ole Miss then suffered eight more losses leading up to the NCAA Tournament, all to teams that made the tournament except for Texas A&M. In addition, the teams that made the tournament that Ole Miss lost to were No. 5 seeds or higher, including No. 1 seeds in South Carolina and Texas, to which Ole Miss lost twice.
The Rebels always kept those games close, however. Of their nine losses, seven were by 10 points or fewer.
Ole Miss can take down a giant, and the NCAA Tournament is made for a team like it—a scrappy squad that can hang with just about anyone.
Teams lower than the first six seeds
March Madness is named for the upset wins that shatter people’s brackets nationwide. The Spokane 1 Regional has upset potential, especially from teams people would least expect.
No. 7 Michigan State ranks in the top 15 in scoring with 79.5 points per game. However, its first-round opponent, No. 10 Harvard, allows just 52.5 points per game, the sixth-fewest in the country.
Michigan State isn’t efficient at shooting the ball, with a 44.7% field goal percentage, which ranks 10th in the Big Ten. On the other hand, Harvard averages 10.7 steals per game, leading the Ivy League.
If Harvard can wreak havoc on the defensive side of the ball and force the Spartans to take tough shots, especially from the perimeter, the 10th-seeded Crimson can make a run in the tournament.
Along with Harvard, No. 13 Grand Canyon could be a bracket buster in the Spokane 1 region. The Lopes rank second in the country in field goal percentage with 49.3% and have the eighth-highest point differential per game, winning games by an average of 20.4 points.
Grand Canyon takes on Baylor in the first round, who ranks ninth in the Big 12 in rebounds per game and fourth in the conference in turnovers per game. If the Lopes can control Baylor on the defensive side and force turnovers, No. 13 seed Grand Canyon can find itself in the second round.
In addition, No. 8 Richmond is an efficient scoring team, ranking third in the country with a 49.2% field goal percentage. The Spiders rank ninth in the country with 9.4 3-pointers made on 24.6 attempts per game and fifth with a 38.3% 3-point percentage.
If the Spiders’ 3-point shooting is successful, they can be a dark horse in the region, as they compete with just about anyone in the country.
