Which sport will LSU win NCAA championship in next? Our experts discuss

BATON ROUGE — First, it was LSU women's basketball taking down Iowa for its first NCAA championship back in April.

Not to make the LSU faithful wait for long, LSU baseball and Jay Johnson followed up Kim Mulkey and her Tigers with a national title of their own two-and-a-half months later earlier this week by toppling Florida in the winner-take-all game three Monday night at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.

Both teams closed out the athletic year strong for LSU, which had a banner year of sorts as LSU football won the SEC West and LSU gymnastics advancing to the NCAA Championship meet in April.

LSU baseball, LSU women's basketball took different paths to same finish on top

Cory Diaz: Two NCAA championships in less than three months is something next to no one saw coming, I can confidently say. Koki, any real way you saw LSU accomplishing this?

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Koki Riley: The expectations for LSU baseball were sky-high to begin this season for a reason, so it's not shocking that the Tigers were able to meet those expectations. But for LSU women's basketball, it's hard to make the same argument even while considering the roster upgrades Kim Mulkey made heading into the season. Cory, would you agree that the narratives surrounding each of these teams during their title runs were different?

Cory:: Completely agree. While both Jay Johnson and Kim Mulkey were just second-year coaches with new programs, what had already been proven between both rosters were different. Angel Reese was good at Maryland, but still had some doubts. And Mulkey was going to play several freshmen as well. There were little expectations and LSU women's basketball thrived in that arena. For the baseball team, what's it say about it that it knew the expectation and delivered?

Koki: It says everything about what kind of coach Jay Johnson is and how his team always buckled down when faced with adversity. It wasn't all sunshine and roses for LSU this season. It went 7-7 in its last 14 games heading into the NCAA Tournament. It lost its second game in Omaha and was forced to win three games in three days to keep its season alive. It lost 24-4 on Sunday with a chance to clinch the national title. This Tigers team proved, once again, that winning a national title is never easy. So Cory, with that said, when will we see the next LSU national championship? And from which team?

How strong of a contenders are LSU football, LSU gymnastics to win the next NCAA championship?

Cory: There are a couple of obvious answers here, right? And I think we, quickly, should dissect the teams and their chances of being LSU athletics' next title holder. First, let's start with LSU football. Certainly, knocking off Alabama in OT at home en route to winning the SEC West when most believed it would be maybe be the third best team in the division raises plenty of hopes and expectation. Do you think those elevated hopes/expectations are warranted?

Koki: I certainly think they are. Coach Brian Kelly has had an extra year to build out the depth of his roster, plus the majority of the Tigers' offense is returning from last season, including starting quarterback Jayden Daniels. The best team in the SEC, more times than not, is the best team in the country. And with Alabama and Georgia getting new quarterbacks this season, there's a fair argument that team could be LSU. Cory, would it be safe to say that LSU women's basketball would be the next team in line for our question?

Cory: Mulkey and the women's basketball team are the most obvious pick, no doubt. And most will even go as far to say that LSU shouldn't lose any games after adding Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow. But I think back to last season when South Carolina wasn't supposed to lose and did it win it all? Nope. So the title won't be given to LSU. LSU gymnastics, with Livvy Dunne, has a legitimate shot at winning a title next year.

LSU men's basketball timeline to jump into title hunt picture

Koki: For as storied of a program as LSU gymnastics is, the program alone has never won a national championship. The Tigers have a real chance of breaking through this season with Haleigh Bryant and Aleah Finnegan returning to school. I also think it's fair to declare that LSU men's basketball still has a lot of work to do before we can talk about them in this discussion. Other than LSU baseball trying to repeating as champions next season, is there another LSU team you think we should hit on with this question?

Cory: Thanks to the transfer portal and the crazy turnover Matt McMahon has experienced these first two offseasons, I feel like the men's basketball team has got a ways before even being in discussion for SEC championships.

Predictions on which LSU sports team captures the next national title

Cory: When you just limit the conversation to national titles, the scope narrows for LSU athletics. So my prediction is LSU women's basketball will be the next team to win an NCAA championship, and I think they do it this coming season. I do think LSU football will be in the mix for a playoff spot this season. The gymnastics team will get back to the NCAA Championship meet. Whether they can finish is hard to answer. And the baseball team is built for sustained success but I believe college baseball is one of the toughest sports to repeat in.

Koki: I agree with you Cory. Without (Paul) Skenes and (Dylan) Crews, it's going to be hard to see how LSU baseball will be able to repeat what it pulled off this summer. LSU football has a realistic shot of proving us both wrong, but it would take a lot for the Tigers to overcome a monster program like Georgia in just two seasons. And LSU gymnastics has the talent to win it all but it's hard to argue that the Tigers are head and shoulders above the competition. However, LSU women's basketball brings back its best player, the No. 1 transfer portal class in the country and the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation. LSU baseball fans, stop me if you've heard that list of credentials before.

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: Which sport will LSU win a national championship in next?