Early look at LSU's availability, path to another Final Four

LSU enters the NCAA Tournament as the reigning champions with enough star power to light up the entire country. However, on Sunday night, the Tigers were give a three-seed, making their road to Cleveland more challenging as they are in a bracket with multiple championship contenders.

The tournament begins for LSU on Friday at 3 p.m. against Rice in the PMAC.

“I’d have to study it more when I get home, but initially I thought that this is a tough, tough region,” head coach Kim Mulkey said. “When we get in the film room tomorrow and get on the court, we’ll get to work. This is why they came here. They want to taste that postseason and it’s a fun time now.”

It’s winning time for Mulkey and her team and she’s antsy to get to work on bringing home another title to LSU. Here’s a look at the injury report and an initial look at the region LSU faces to get to the Final Four.

LSU Injury report

Last-Tear Poa

Poa left the SEC Tournament with a concussion last week, but was out with the team at the selection show and was in good spirits. Mulkey said Pos ran on the treadmill this weekend and is getting better everyday. She’ll do individual workouts early this week. I assume they’ll hold her out for the first round game vs. Rice then proceed accordingly. That would give her two full weeks to recover.

Angel Reese

Reese turned her ankle in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament but played through it and this past week has been about rehabbing and getting back to 100 percent. Reese was exceptional even with a bum ankle and will continue to terrorize teams. I suspect she’s back to 100 percent for the tournament, or at least close enough to where you can’t tell a difference.

Mikaylah Williams

Williams was thrust into the SEC title game without having practiced or played in over two weeks, so clearly she was going to struggle against South Carolina. LSU has been cautious with Williams’ lingering foot sensitivity. She can play through it, but a few weeks off was certainly important for her getting right before the postseason. Mulkey says it’s not about getting her fitness level back up.

What to know about this region

The toughest region in the bracket by a good margin. 1. Iowa, 2. UCLA, 3. LSU, 4. Kansas State, 5. Colorado, 6. Louisville, 7. Creighton, 8. West Virginia, 9. Princeton, 10. UNLV, 11. Middle Tennessee, 12. Drake. 

The ALBANY 2 region❗️#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/JmYTK4zEAk

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 18, 2024

That is nine teams in the top 26 in the NET. No other region has more than six.

In addition, LSU’s region also has nine-seed Princeton at 34 in the NET and Middle Tennessee at 39. Even Drake is a five-loss team with a star player that could make a run. 

Then you get to the underseeded teams. Both Charlie Creme and HerHoopStats had LSU as a two-seed. Both had West Virginia has a higher seed (Creme six, HHS seven). Both had Colorado as a four-seed. Both had Middle Tennessee as a 10-seed. Both had UNLV as a 9-seed. It’s an unprecedented region in terms of seeding.

Then you (finally) get to the players. I’m not sure there’s ever been a region with this much star power. Here’s a good rundown of the talent on hand.

Ranking the top 10 players in Albany Regional 2:

1. Caitlin Clark (Iowa)
2. Angel Reese (LSU)
3. Aneesah Morrow (LSU)
4. Ayoka Lee (Kansas State)
5. Lauren Betts (UCLA)
6. Charisma Osborne (UCLA)
7. JJ Quinerly (West Virginia)
8. Kiki Rice (UCLA)
9. Jaylyn Sherrod (Colorado)
10.… pic.twitter.com/OQFgcUXugf

— I talk hoops 🏀 (@trendyhoopstars) March 18, 2024

This doesn’t even include LSU’s Hailey Van Lith, SEC Freshman of the Year Mikaylah Williams, Colorado’s Aaronett Vonleh, or Louiville’s Kiki Jefferson.

It sets up for one of the craziest regions I’ve ever seen. We’ll get into depth on each team in the coming days, so stay tuned.