LSU bounced back from last week’s back-to-back losses by holding off Texas A&M on Tuesday night, but the Tigers will have to do more to boost their potential seed in the NCAA Tournament this spring. ESPN’s noted bracketologist Joe Lunardi has dropped LSU to a 10-seed in his updated bracket prediction for this year’s tournament.
LSU has been trending downward in Lunardi’s bracket updates. Within the last two weeks, LSU has fallen from a 7-seed down to its current spot with a 10-seed. Lunardi currently has LSU paired up with 7-seed Oklahoma. A win against the Sooners would set LSU up for a potential matchup with Houston, who claims the 2-seed in Region 4 according to ESPN.com’s bracketology.
LSU is currently in the region with 1-seed Villanova, Kansas, and Ohio State. Oklahoma moved up in Lunardi’s bracket and moved from Region 3 to Region 4.
Tough week on court causes LSU to slide in updated NCAA NET rankings
Lunardi currently has six teams from the SEC making the tournament, which is a number that has been pretty fixed in recent weeks. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, and Tennessee are the other SEC teams sitting in the tournament as of now. LSU and Arkansas are at the bottom of the list of SEC teams based on seeding, so the ice could be getting thin for the Tigers.
LSU will get a chance to improve its tournament outlook with a big game this weekend in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge. LSU will host Texas Tech, with the Red Raiders currently sitting with a 5-seed in Lunardi’s outlook. The game against Texas Tech begins a challenging three-game stretch for the Tigers. After facing Texas Tech at home on Saturday, LSU will visit Alabama next Wednesday and host Florida the following Saturday. LSU just lost a blowout to the Crimson Tide at home last week. Alabama has a 2-seed in Lunardi’s field, and Florida is a team on the rise in his bracketology method (currently a 7-seed).