LSU, NSU focused on postseason

It is officially Championship Week for the LSU and Nicholls State basketball teams.

The Tigers’ men and both Colonels’ squads will be competing in their respective conference tournaments this week.

None of the teams appear to have the resume to qualify for an at-large spot in next week’s NCAA Tournament.

That means that all three squads almost certainly must win the entire tournament to advance to the Big Dance.

LSU enters the SEC Tournament as the conference’s No. 9 seed in the 14-team tournament field.

Their push to the NCAA Tournament will begin tomorrow at noon against No. 8 Georgia.

The Tigers and Bulldogs are not strangers to one another.

The teams met on Jan. 19 with Georgia scoring a 67-58 road victory.

But LSU coach Johnny Jones believes his team has matured since that game and will be ready for the challenge.

“Georgia played one of their better games that they played in the early part of the season,” Jones said. “It’s a team that I think we’ve got a chance to match up with pretty well. … It will be a great match up and one we look forward to.”

If LSU wins their game tomorrow, their challenge will just be getting started.

The winner of the LSU/Georgia game will take on the SEC’s No. 1-seed Florida on Friday at noon.

From there, the Tigers would need to win two more games to get the SEC’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

Jones said he thinks his team is up to the challenge and is capable of making a run.

Following LSU’s loss to Ole Miss last Saturday, the coach said he expects his team to gear up for one final push.

“I think our guys will do a great job of playing with a sense of urgency in the next game because of the setback that we had today,” Jones said. “Obviously, we’ve got some things we’ve got to work on, like attention to detail, and we’ll get better and be ready to play on Thursday.”

Four wins are also what the Nicholls State men’s basketball team needs to win the Southland Conference.

The Colonels open their quest today in Katy, Texas as the No. 5-seed in the league.

Nicholls State will square off against No. 8 McNeese State in a game that will serve as a rematch of last Saturday’s double overtime thriller that saw the Cowboys score a 91-88 win in Thibodaux.

It also will be the rubber game between the two teams, as Nicholls scored a one-point road win against McNeese State on Jan. 7.

If victorious, the Colonels will take on No. 4 Southeastern Louisiana at 5 p.m. tomorrow.

While the Nicholls and LSU men scrap it out as underdogs, the Colonels’ women will enjoy a first-round bye in their tournament.

Nicholls’ women’s team earned the No.4-seed in the conference and will play the winner of Wednesday morning’s game between No. 8 Northwestern State and No. 5 McNeese State.

Nicholls’ first game will take place Thursday at 11 a.m.

The Colonels have victories against both teams this season.

But McNeese State is a team with a history of success in single-elimination play, having won the conference each of the past two seasons.

If Nicholls is successful in their first game, they would play No. 1 Oral Roberts at 11 a.m. on Friday.

LSU women ready for the NCAA Tournament

The LSU women’s basketball team’s push for the NCAA Tournament is already complete.

The Lady Tigers advanced to the quarterfinals of this past week’s SEC Tournament – winning a 65-62 tilt with Auburn on Thursday before falling 71-53 to Georgia on Friday night.

The loss ends LSU’s regular season with a 20-11 record.

The Lady Tigers appear to firmly have a spot in the 64-team field.