LSU women's basketball bracketology: Kim Mulkey's team eyes 2-seed for Selection Sunday
The dust has officially settled for LSU women's basketball and a final bit of ink on its resume to turn into the NCAA Tournament selection committed for Selection Sunday has dried.
After 33 regular season and SEC Tournament games, Kim Mulkey and the Tigers (28-5) have won 28 games and hold the eighth-best NET ranking in the country, a metric the committee uses for seeding. LSU ranks 69th in strength of schedule, per Warren Nolan, the highest its been all season long. The Tigers have eight Quad 1 victories and an overall 14-5 record versus Quad 1 and 2 teams.
The Tigers finished runner-up to No. 1 South Carolina in both the regular season and the SEC Tournament, which caught global headlines for a scrum that took place late in the game.
Looking at its' entire body of work, where do bracketologists project LSU to land come Selection Sunday?
For the first time, there's a consensus.
ESPN: 2 seed (Portland 3)
ESPN's Charlie Creme had the Tigers on the 2-seed prior to the start of the SEC Tournament and by finishing second, they did exactly what they needed to do in his eyes to nail down a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament. In his projections released Tuesday morning, he has LSU opening things up against No. 15 Jackson State in Baton Rouge and would meet the winner of No. 7 Creighton and No. 10 Maryland. He has LSU in No. 1 Stanford's region, going to Portland where it could play No. 3 Notre Dame in the Sweet 16.
Her Hoop Stats (Portland 2)
Her Hoop Stats' Megan Gauer finally moved LSU up to the 2-line in her projections, the last of the bracketology crowd to do so this season. Gauer predicted the Tigers playing No. 15 Jackson State to open March Madness and face the winner of No. 7 Michigan State and No. 10 Miami in round two. Gauer agrees with Creme in that LSU is in No. 1 Stanford's region and also thinks Mulkey's bunch could see a matchup with No. 3 Notre Dame in Portland in the Sweet 16.
The Athletic (Portland 2)
WHY TEAMS SHOULD FEAR LSU IN TOURNEY Angel Reese: Anybody playing LSU women's basketball in NCAA Tournament 'should be scared'
KIM MULKEY ON LSU-SOUTH CAROLINA FIGHT Everything Kim Mulkey said about 'ugly' LSU-South Carolina fight: 'No one wants to see that'
The Athletic did the right thing by dropping Virginia Tech below LSU in its projected seeding, which means the Tigers vaulted back up to a No. 2 seed in its latest bracketology. The Athletic sees No. 15 Maine as the Tigers' opening round opponent at home. No. 7 Creighton and No. 10 Michigan would round out the other teams in Baton Rouge. In the Portland 2 region, The Athletic has LSU in No. 1 USC's corner of the bracket but that's the only difference between the other prognosticators as if everything runs chalks, LSU would face No. 3 Notre Dame in the Sweet 16.
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Where LSU women's basketball stands in NCAA Tournament projections
