Resume Review: LSU in solid position as non-con closes

By Hunt Palmer

LSU dodged a bullet on Monday.

A loss to Prairie View would have been a huge shot to LSU’s non-conference resume. The Panthers have one Division 1 win to date, and their NET ranking as of Tuesday morning is No. 290, and it was well into the 300s prior to the game with LSU.

If LSU is to make it into the NCAA Tournament come March, it’s likely to come from the bubble. A Quad 4 loss and the sizeable NET hit that comes with it would have been crippling to LSU entering conference play.

With one non-conference game to play against NET 181 Southern Miss, LSU sits in a stable spot. The Tigers are No. 41 in the NET with an 11-1 record. Ten of LSU’s 11 wins come in Quads 3 and 4 with seven being Quad 4 Ws. That’s a strong record against a weak schedule.

It probably means LSU needs to prove itself in SEC play.

The relatively good news is that the league doesn’t appear to be as strong as it was last year. Vanderbilt is the only SEC team in the top 18 of the NET currently, and Joe Lunardi only has 10 of the 16 teams in his field currently. Remember, 14 made it last season.

Speaking of Lunardi, LSU is one of his teams in the field. The Tigers are a No. 9 seed currently.

These resume reviews will be largely based in objective facts moving forward. NET ranking, road wins, conference standing and remaining schedule will tell the tale.

In this case, I’ll use a little subjectivity. LSU, to me, looks like a bubble team. The Tigers have a skilled offense, versatile scoring options and enough size and length to rebound. Defensively, they have issues in the backcourt. They don’t create turnovers and give up too many good looks at threes.

I’d be stunned if this were another 3-15 SEC team. I’d be similarly stunned if they won 11-plus SEC games. I think they flirt with .500 which, based on the metrics, will have them on the bubble.

That would make for an interesting February and early March.

As for November and December. It was a job pretty well done.