LSU vs #23 Miss State in the P-Mac (TV: ESPNU)

Nice win...if we can win out and get two wins in the tourney we'll be one of the bubble teams.

 

we win out, we'll have a solid case even with no wins in the SECT. we'll probably lose at least one of our remaining games and then have to win prob 2 in the SECT to have a solid case.

but we're definitely in good shape for the NIT

 

That was one exciting and bizarre finish. I'll take the win any day! Geaux Tigers!

 

AWESOME WIN, TIGAHS!!!

Man, I was really beside myself with Turner's lob turnover with 11 seconds left, but sometimes, there's just fate and the basketball gods at play. All Hail Hickey, and some big shots by Hamilton after being stymied most of the game.

All in all, have to love it, have to give the entire team some props for coming back. There were some brain farts here and there, but all in all the team is showing life, contributions from key players, and heart. Sometimes these sorts of wins (i.e., comeback wins against good teams) just have a way of building confidence, and confidence is frankly what this team has been missing for the past 2 seasons.

One game at a time and just play your hearts out, Tigers. Don't worry about post-season play, just win 'em one game at a time.

:geauxtige:geaux:

 

Wow. First let me say, that was a hell of a game. Tons of great individual performances. Too many to single out, but Hamilton was huge for large stretches, Hickey obviously took over in OT when we needed buckets, and Ralston and Stringer were trading shots for a while. Can't forget JOB's hustle play late in regulation, chasing down a loose ball when it looked like State had gotten the rebound. Just a tremendous team effort. Love watching this team work.

Now to the big picture stuff. By my count, LSU has four wins over the RPI top 50 (Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Marquette). The quality wins alone are enough to get us in, but it's the losses that are killing us... especially the South Alabama loss (brutal, makes no sense, infuriating, etc.), but Coastal and Northwestern haven't exactly helped us either. Coastal is 18-8 overall but the only way they get into the dance is through winning their conference tourney, and Northwestern has gone just 5-7 in the Big Ten so far.

Either of the former two can be explained away. But I fear we are going to look back at this season and point to that fluke OT loss to South Alabama as the game that marred our tournament resume. Without that loss, we're a bubble team at 16-9, with a great shot at playing our way in with a solid finish to the regular season and a nice showing in the SEC tournament. Now, we're pretty much gonna have to do all that just to get to the bubble in the first place.

Anyway, I'm having a hell of a time following this team and this season has been fun. An NIT berth wouldn't be bad at all, but it hurts looking at that game now, knowing how much it means.

 

Exciting game last night and the program appears to be gradually improving. Getting to the dance seems like a long shot but at least we're in the mix with next year looking to be an even better team.

The "one game at a time" mentioned above is key. The big win last night can breed confidence and hopefully allow the team to believe they can come through in the clutch.

 

What a great game! This team can be frustrating as hell to watch sometimes and then two minutes later they look like world beaters. I guess that's just the way it goes when you have a lot of youth. I really like our chances heading down the stretch and the fact that we are even discussing the possibility of being a bubble team says a hell of a lot about how far our program has come.

 

Great win for the tiger team & coaching staff. Sure hope it can be the start of a good run.

 

Winning out really may not be that much of a stretch. 4 of our last 5 games are against the bottom half of the conference, and 3 of those are against the 10th, 11th, and 12th place teams in the league.

At 20-10 (10-6), an NCAA tournament bid wouldn't be out of reach at all, even without winning a game in the SEC tournament. That's kind of a magic number, record-wise.

 

Ok, ya got me, now on to the prognostication.

In the "olden" days, a winning SEC record usually meant a NCAA birth. Remember those years where SEC teams might have gotten in with an 8-8 record (and perhaps a win in the SECT to boot)? I think the issue these past few years is that the perception is the SEC is "top heavy", but bottom and middle "light". I am deathly afraid that the committee has already decided that only 5 teams will get in. So, that tells me the 4-6th teams in the SEC are going to be jockeying all the way up to the final game and then the SEC Tourney. Then, it'll come down to RPI first, SOS second, quality wins and losses. As I see it, UK, FLA and Vandy are locks. Then, you get to that Bama, MSU, Ark, Ole Miss, LSU level, who are all within near each other in the range of RPI respectability (that sort of 35-70 area), and have beat each other. So, LSU will want to watch all of these teams like hawks. Bama and MSU sort of seem to be on mini slides, whereas LSU has the schedule laid out for them. Ark has a pretty weak SOS, and very few quality wins. Ole Miss has a deceptive RPI, but in a head to head vs LSU they got creamed by Marquette (LSU has to find a way to win that OM game if at all possible). If LSU wins one game at a time, and is sitting there with 19-20 wins, you're going to have a committee there that is inclined to reward them for actually playing people in the non-conference. I think that it's still Bama and MSU's bids to lose (unless they start to drop a few here and there), but you never know and that's why you play the game. Does a dangerous Tennessee or Georgia jump up and bite one of these teams? I have a feeling that a head to head showdown in the SEC Tourney for this tier of teams, is going to be the deciding factor this year for several of them.

Bottomline it's going to be a long 3 weeks from here, play 'em one game at a time, and play your heart out. Beat folks you're supposed to beat and at this stage, try to beat them convincingly. Trent and players need to be on their A game now, and they seem to be building that momentum. Let's not get cocky and keep playing HARD and TOGETHER for the next few weeks, Tigahs!

It's FUN to be a LSU basketball fan again! :yelwink2: :geauxtige