A Pocket Guide To The College Basketball Team Of LSU

America is lucky to have two of the best basketball leagues in the world - the NBA and the NCAAB.

You can find the best NCAAB odds on next season and next March Madness here.

Many of the best players in the NBA begin their careers in the NCAAB. Today, we are going to talk about the NCAAB team, the LSU Tigers.

We will be looking at their history and what could be in store for them in the future.

LSU 

LSU (Louisiana State University) is an American university that was founded in 1853 and became known as LSU in 1860, and then again in 1922.

It is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The university is mainly a research university and works on major projects with both the NIH and NASA. They are also renowned for their school of veterinary medicine - it is considered one of the Top 20 in the country.

They have 21 varsity teams - 12 are male, and 9 are female. They are all called the Tigers and their mascot is Mike the Tiger.

Club History 

LSU is a university that has had a basketball team for over 110 years.

The Tigers were founded in 1908. Their first game was against Dixon Academy and they won 35-20.

They had some of their most successful years between 1935 and 1956. When the NCAA Finals began, they made it to the Final 4 in 1956.

They then had another wave of success in the 1980s, when they made it to the Final 4 again in 1981 and 1986.

In the early 21st century, the team tore through coaches, they have just hired their 5th coach in 12 years.

Coach 

The coach of the Tigers was Will Wade until March 2022. Wade had worked for the team since 2017 and was fired due to an investigation currently being put together by the FBI and the NCAA.

The Tigers have chosen to replace Wade with Matt McMahon and signed him on for a seven year contract.

For the last seven years, McMahon has been working at Murray State. The highlight of this period was him picking and championing Ja Morant. He took the team to the last 32 twice. Last season they went unbeaten in conference play.

Most Notable Alumni 

The Tigers have 3 players in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame:

• Bob Pettit
• Pete Maravich
• Shaquille O'Neal

Arguably their most notable alumni is Shaq.

Shaquille O'Neal played for the team between 1988 and 1991. After being picked 1st overall in the 1992 Draft, Shaq went on to win 4 NBA Championships, and 3 NBA Final MVP awards, and he was named to the All-Stars 15 times.

One of O'Neal's most significant achievements was winning the Triple (the NBA Finals 3 years in a row) with the Lakers between 2000 and 2002.

His son Shareef O'Neal also played for LSU until the end of this season.

This Season 

The team plays in the Southeastern Conference and this year they came 5th overall.

They ended the season on a 22-12 record. They won 9 games and lost 9 games in SEC play this season. The season was limited to 40 games because of concerns over COVID-19.

They were seeded 6th in the SEC Tournament. They knocked out Missouri in the 2nd round but were themself knocked out by Arkansaw in the quarter-finals. 

At the end of this season and part way through March Madness, the Tigers sacked their coach. He had been under investigation by the FBI for 3 years.

March Madness 2022 

This year, the Tigers were able to make it into the NCAA Tournament. Also known as March Madness. This was the third year in a row that they had qualified.

However, they were shockingly knocked out in the first round by Iowa State.

The Tigers have never made it further than the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament. The last time they made it that far was in 2006. In 2019, they made it through the Sweet 16 for the first time in 13 years.

They are at +15,000 to win the tournament next year according to the bookies.

Next Season 

It is hard to tell what will happen to the Tigers next year.

They have a new coach who is coming off the back of a few very successful seasons with his previous team.

One commentator noted that within one month of Matt McMahon taking the job, 11 of LSU's students with basketball scholarships decided to transfer to other schools. Those kinds of numbers are quite unprecedented.

So, the Tigers will be starting this year with a new coach and possibly a completely new team. They could have some amazing years ahead of them, only time will tell.