BATON ROUGE — Coming into the second and final top 16 reveal from the NCAA Tournament selection committee Thursday night, the overlying question surrounding LSU women’s basketball was if it has been eliminated from No. 1-seed consideration.
With losses at both South Carolina and Texas, who have both been on the 1-line in all the most recent tournament bracketology updates the past couple of weeks, the mountain Kim Mulkey and the Tigers (27-2, 12-2 SEC) must climb, despite an impressive overall record, to reach the 1-line in March Madness appears very steep but not impossible.
The selection committee has the Tigers as the No. 2 seed in Spokane Region 1 with UCLA (28-1) as the overall top seed in the full bracket. LSU is one of six Southeastern Conference teams in the top 16 projected seeds as of Thursday.
LSU is also paired with No. 3 North Carolina (25-4) and No. 4 Kansas State (25-5). UCLA, Texas, Notre Dame and USC made up the four No. 1 seeds in the top 16 reveal.
The Tigers are the No. 7 overall seed and while there is a closer regional site this season in Birmingham, Alabama, the selection committee would have to send Mulkey’s squad out West due to the committee’s criteria of not having the conference mates in the same region until the regional final at the earliest.
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LSU was the No. 6 overall seed in the committee’s first top 16 seed reveal two weeks ago, and at the time, a matchup at then No. 3 overall Texas awaited the Tigers. They have since dropped that game against the Longhorns, who are considered the No. 1 seed now with wins over LSU and South Carolina on their resume.
To climb their way to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers will need to win the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament, which tips off next week at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. LSU has clinched a double bye and will play its first game of the conference tournament that Friday night.
Since Mulkey has taken over in Baton Rouge, LSU has not been higher than a No. 3 seed in the tournament. The Tigers were a 3-seed when they won the NCAA Championship two seasons ago, led by star Angel Reese, Flau’jae Johnson and point guard Alexis Morris.
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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Where LSU women’s basketball landed in most recent top 16 reveal
