SEC Basketball: Power rankings heading into the SEC season
By Kevin Miller
SEC Basketball Power Rankings:
No. 13 LSU Tigers
The good news for LSU basketball fans is that the Tigers are better in 2023-2024 than they were in 2022-2023. The bad news is that they still don't seem to be very good.
Matt McMahon's team is expected to be near the bottom of the conference at season's end, and the out-of-conference schedule seems to indicate something similar.
LSU is in the bottom-5 of the SEC in points per game, 3-point percentage, free throw percentage, assisted baskets, and rebounds, and the Tigers are the worst team in the conference at committing turnovers.
The bright side for the 8-5 Bayou Bengals is that they have played a pretty tough schedule, and their only bad loss is to Nicholls State. The grayer, less-optimistic way of looking at it, though, is that there hasn't been a single good win on the resume, either. An overtime win over Wake Forest doesn't move the needle much.
Big-time cheater Will Wade got LSU to three NCAA Tournaments using tactics that would be somewhat permissible today, but the Tigers had a losing overall record and last place finish in the SEC in year 1 under his replacement. Can Matt McMahon keep his team above .500 this season? Probably not. But the fact that it is not completely out of the realm of possibility is an improvement in Baton Rouge.