The LSU Basketball team is coming down the final stretch of what has been an overall underwhelming season. Early on as the LSU Basketball team stacked win after win, the sentiment was that everyone wanted to see the Tigers do it again a capable opponent. When LSU lost to Pittsburgh and SMU in Non-Conference Play, it tempered expectations a bit but, with an 11-2 record heading into SEC Play LSU would have plenty of chances to pick up quality wins.
The Tigers never took full advantage of their chances letting close games slip away against Ole Miss, Alabama, and Vanderbilt. LSU's struggles against the top teams in the SEC will most likely keep them out of NCAA Tournament contention but, the Tigers could've done more prior to SEC Play.
The biggest question lingering is would LSU have been better off scheduling tougher Non-Conference opponents than winning more games against weaker opponents.
LSU Basketball's Resume
- Record: 14-12 (3-10)
- NET Ranking: 79th
- Quad One Record: 1-10
- Quad Two Record: 3-2
- Quad Three Record: 2-0
- Quad 4 Record: 8-0
The hope when you schedule lower tier opponents is that the wins will age well when the season gets underway. LSU hasn't had that fortune as FGCU is the only win that could jump into Quad Three from Quad Four while the other seven teams are ranked from 247th to 364th.
Kansas State was supposed to be a massive Quad One win at the time but, the Wildcats struggles have them stuck in Quad Two. Florida State's brutal season has the Seminoles in Quad Three hardly ranked ahead of South Carolina who LSU demolished.
Facing as many lower level programs as LSU did didn't just give LSU a weaker resume but, it likely hurt them in the bigger games. The Mid Major programs didn't have the players to truly test LSU and even in the tougher Non-Conference games, LSU didn't appear ready for the talent level of their opponents and it carried into SEC Play.
When you look at the NCAA Tournament Projections, Oklahoma and Arkansas both teams LSU has beaten are ranked as Last Four In teams while LSU isn't even on the bubble. The Tigers have the same SEC record as the Sooners but, Oklahoma is ranked 53rd in the NET because they picked up wins over Michigan, Arizona, Louisville, Providence, Oklahoma State, and Georgia Tech which are Quad 1-3 wins.
Arkansas and LSU have split their season series but, the Razorbacks are 41st in the NET Rankings with a 15-11 record and just one more win in SEC Play. Arkansas accomplished this by beating Michigan in Conference Play while playing two extra quad three opponents.
If LSU misses the NCAA Tournament it will likely be as a result of the Tigers abysmal stretch in SEC Play but, a tougher Non-Conference schedule also could've given LSU a much greater shot at staying in the hunt.