Michael Bacigalupi
By Hunt Palmer
LSU’s scheduling proved inconsequential this season.
The Tigers didn’t handle business in the SEC, limping to a 9-21 record after being swept in five of the final six weekends. That rendered the pre-conference slate meaningless.
More often than not, this week demands resume’ scrutiny whether it’s about getting into the NCAA Tournament, hosting a regional or earning a top eight seed. LSU won’t be doing any of that. However, the program moves forward, and scheduling is important.
This year’s month of pre-SEC matchups was a mixed bag.
It always starts with the tournament LSU chooses to play in. The Tigers swept three games in Jacksonville in Week 2. UCF ended up being a really solid win. The Golden Knights are 31-20 with an RPI of 32 which made that a quadrant 1 win for LSU. Notre Dame went 13-17 in ACC play and have an RPI of 70. That was a quadrant 2 game. Indiana was awful, 9-21 in a bad Big 10. Their 19 RPI fell in quadrant 3.
Kent State was the gem of the home non-conference schedule. The Golden Flashes are 39-13 with an RPI of 52. Northeastern (34-19) always wins a ton of games. Creighton (29-24) could be a 30-win team. Their RPIs sit at 98 and 97, respectively.
Jay Johnson thought Sacramento State would win a lot of games. The Hornets are four games under .500 even with a 2-of-3 series win at LSU. Milwaukee was the season-opening series, and they have stumbled to a 22-31 record.
Dartmouth shared the weekend with Northeastern in Baton Rouge, and their RPI is 264.
At this point, LSU’s non-conference strength of schedule ranks 123rd which is low, but the SEC gauntlet pulled LSU up considerably. Overall, LSU’s strength of schedule is 10th. That would have been plenty good enough to support the Tigers in any postseason discussion.
Johnson won’t likely make too many tweaks to his scheduling style. He might nix the five-game weeks early in the season and back off to 55 games. He’s also going to play a midweek game in the final regular season week. As far as level of competition, this would have worked out should the Tigers have fared better in SEC play.
OPPONENTS RECORD RPI
Milwaukee 22-31 256
Kent State 39-13 52
Indiana 23-31 119
Notre Dame 30-21 70
UCF 31-20 32
Dartmouth 15-25 264
Northeastern 34-19 98
Sacramento State 26-30 111
Creighton 29-24 97
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