Why is LSU men’s basketball still worth watching?
That’s a fair question for fans to ask. The hope of this regular season leading to an NCAA Tournament appearance is practically a fantasy as the Tigers prepare to face No. 2 Florida at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Improbable is the nicest way to describe LSU’s chance of reaching the Big Dance, which it last reached during the 2021-22 season.
LSU (14-12, 3-10 SEC) is 15th in the Southeastern Conference standings, and ESPN’s Bracketology projects 12 teams from the conference to make the NCAA Tournament as of Friday. The record for the most teams to make the tournament from one conference is 11, which was done by the Big East in 2011.
The simplest way for the Tigers to make the tournament is to miraculously win the SEC Tournament.
The more likely but also unrealistic way for coach Matt McMahon’s team to go dancing is by getting an at-large bid. To have a decent argument to be chosen by the selection committee, LSU must win at least three of its remaining five regular-season games — its lowest-ranked opponent left is No. 21 Mississippi State — and reach at least the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.
Stacking that many wins may be a tough ask, especially because the Tigers have the strongest remaining strength of schedule, according to ESPN.
That leads to the most realistic path toward postseason play with the National Invitation Tournament.
LSU made the NIT last year as an automatic qualifier as it was one of the top two SEC teams in the NET to miss the NCAA Tournament. LSU fell 84-77 to North Texas in the first round.
The Tigers have a chance to earn an automatic bid again this season, even with a new selection process.
This season, there will be exempt bids for 16 teams in the 32-team NIT. The SEC and the Atlantic Coast Conference each will have two teams given automatic bids. The other 12 exempt bids will be given to one team in each of the best 12 conferences that is decided by KenPom rating.
All exempt bids will be rewarded to the teams with the highest KNIT score from each conference. The KNIT is the average score from seven ranking systems: ESPN Basketball Power Index (BPI), Kevin Pauga Index (KPI), NET, KenPom, Strength of Record (SOR), Torvik ranking and Wins Above Bubble (WAB) ranking.
Regular-season conference champions who aren’t chosen for the NCAA Tournament can get an exempt bid to the NIT if they have an average score of at least 125 across the ranking systems. The rest of the field are at-large teams decided by the NIT's selection committee comprised of former coaches, athletic directors and a commissioner.
If 12 SEC teams make the NCAA Tournament, LSU must have no worse than the second-best KNIT score among the bottom four conference teams to automatically make the NIT.
The Tigers are in better spirits after winning their last two games, beating South Carolina (10-16, 0-13) and Oklahoma (16-10, 3-10).
Overtaking the Sooners will take a measure of hoping they continue trending down as they are in the midst of a five-game losing streak.
If the Tigers don’t end the year better than Oklahoma, they can still make the NIT if they have a solid resume for an at-large bid or the SEC ends up getting 13 NCAA bids.
An NIT appearance wasn't LSU's original goal. If it comes to fruition, it won't be an accomplishment the program will want to brag about, either.
But LSU has a chance to play more basketball, which is always good for the growth of players on the current roster. It also can supply momentum entering the 2025-26 season.
