GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU basketball coach Matt McMahon and former Tigers’ coach Will Wade do not have a lot in common as far as recruiting habits, NCAA investigations and NCAA probation.
But McMahon has mimicked Will Wade in the way of scheduling lately. Wade, whom LSU fired in March of 2022 in his fifth season just as the NCAA prepared to hammer him, scheduled expertly in his first season at McNeese State last year. He went 30-3 with help from the 324th-ranked schedule out of 362 NCAA teams in the country and reached the NCAA Tournament.
Wade, who took a proactive, five-game suspension for NCAA leniency on arrival at McNeese, beat such teams last season as College of Biblical Studies, Champion Christian, LeTourneau and the Mississippi University for Women, which actually has a men’s team.
McMahon has not reached that low into the barrel, but his Tigers (10-2) play their last non-conference game against No. 364 Mississippi Valley State (2-10) tonight (6 p.m., SEC Network+) before opening Southeastern Conference play at home against Vanderbilt (11-1) on Saturday (3:30 p.m., ESPN2).
That’s No. 364 out of 364 NCAA teams as ranked by the NCAA’s Evaluation Tool called NET. Last Sunday, LSU beat No. 334 UNO (now 2-10), 86-70. The game before that on Dec. 17, LSU beat No. 359 Stetson (now 2-10) by 99-53. And before that, the Tigers opened the season on Nov. 6 with a 95-60 win over Louisiana-Monroe, which is now No. 349 and 4-10.
Enjoy it while you can, Matt. The SEC will be here soon.
LSU FRESH OUT OF RENT-A-WINS AFTER SUNDAY
“It looks like every SEC game is going to be a Quad 1 game,” Wade said recently, knowing full well what’s coming.
Mississippi Valley State, though, at least has a win over the Mississippi University for Women, located in Columbus, by 66-49, on Nov. 7. And the Delta Devils have not avoided stiff competition, losing 111-39 at Missouri, 89-43 at Texas and 83-44 at Iowa State.
So, LSU better not try to hold a walk-through or a shoot-around for long.
Then it will three months of reckonings.
The SEC has all 16 of its teams in the top 85 of the NET, including seven in the top 21 – No. 1 Auburn (11-1), No. 2 Tennessee (12-0), No. 4 Florida (12-0), No. 8 Alabama (10-2), No. 12 Mississippi State (11-1), No. 20 Kentucky (10-2) and No. 21 Texas A&M (11-2).
The rest of the SEC in NET rankings – No. 27 Georgia (11-1), No. 34 Texas (10-2), No. 37 Vanderbilt (11-1), No. 39 Ole Miss (11-2), No. 42 Oklahoma (12-0), No. 45 Arkansas (10-2), No. 46 Missouri (10-2), No. 61 LSU (10-2) and No. 85 South Carolina (9-3). Funny, LSU was picked to finish 14th in the SEC at SEC Media Days in October.
Ten SEC teams were ranked in the Associated Press top 25 last week – No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Auburn, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Florida, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 12 Oklahoma (12-0), No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 16 Ole Miss (11-2), No. 19 Mississippi State and No. 23 Arkansas (10-2).
After Vanderbilt, the Tigers are off to Missouri (10-2) on Tuesday, Jan. 7 (8 p.m. SEC Network), and then to Ole Miss on Saturday, Jan. 11 (5 p.m., SEC Network).
LSU is a significantly improved team over last season when it finished 17-16 and 9-9 and reached the NIT. It has impressive wins over No. 82 NET UCF and No. 83 Florida State. There are also quality losses, if you will, to No. 9 NET Pittsburgh (20-2) and No. 30 SMU (10-2).
The most difficult part of this season could be that LSU’s SEC record with a better team this season may not be as good as last season’s.
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