March 21, 2026: during NCAA Baseball action between the Oklahoma Sooners and the LSU Tigers at the Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, LA. Michael Bacigalupi
By Hunt Palmer
Plenty of baseball remains.
There is more SEC action to be played than has been played. That allows an opportunity every time it simultaneously presents a challenge. Everyone is familiar with LSU’s 2024 story, 3-12 to the NCAA Tournament. Florida was 1-11 last year at this point and qualified as an at-large. Ole Miss won the national title from 4-8 after 12 league games.
None of that is to suggest LSU will play much better moving forward. It’s only to illustrate that time and games remain.
Jay Johnson isn’t running from LSU’s current situation at 22-12, 6-6. He’s talking to his team about it.
“Coach Johnson is pretty cut and clear with us,” said sophomore centerfielder Derek Curiel after LSU’s loss to Bethune Cookman. “He literally pulled us up in here and showed us where we are in the RPI rankings showing that we’re not quite where we need to be to make the tournament. He tells us the pressure’s on, and it is. We know that, and we know that we need to probably win two more SEC games now because we lost this game tonight.”
LSU’s RPI is at 75 on Wednesday which is well off the NCAA bubble, but that’s not of significant consequence on April 8. There are a minimum of 19 SEC games to play and only four non-conference games left.
LSU has series with RPI:
No. 6 Florida
at No. 12 Mississippi State
at No. 13 Ole Miss
No. 16 RPI Texas A&M
at No. 22 Georgia
Plus, N0. 112 South Carolina which could serve as a chance to up the SEC win total without helping much in the RPI department.
In short, there is more than enough opportunity to drive the metrics in the right direction. It just involves beating good teams.
The Tigers know their positioning isn’t ideal. Defending national champions have struggled dating back to Mississippi State’s 2022 team. At LSU, the expectation was to buck that trend this year.
“It definitely matters to us, and we definitely need to know (our positioning),” Curiel said. “I wouldn’t say it puts any pressure on us. Maybe from the outside, I guess. But, for us internally, it just makes us want to play harder because we’re LSU. We’re not going to miss out on the postseason.”
The loss to Bethune Cookman isn’t a disaster in a vacuum. The problem is, it’s not in a vacuum. Sacramento State is No. 188 in the RPI with a 130-21 record. Northeastern is No. 159 in the RPI with a 16-14 mark. McNeese is 15-16 on the year and RPI No. 172. LSU has lost to all of those teams.
It starts to add up.
For now, what the Tigers can go to Oxford and win a pair of games. That SEC mark carries some weight, and 8-7 at the midway point would be a manageable position. Losing 2-of-3 or worse only compounds the problem.
Again, plenty of baseball to be played.
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