Kim Mulkey has made a point throughout her LSU team's remarkable season to remind those watching: Things are ahead of schedule.
Perhaps the NCAA Tournament selection committee felt the same way, because despite a 28-2 record with the lone regular season loss coming to juggernaut South Carolina, the lady Tigers landed a No. 3 seed in the Greenville region.
"Flip a coin [with Utah], we could've been the 2, they could've been the 3. It doesn't matter. You're gonna have to play good teams along the way," Mulkey said. "The first, most important thing is we get to host. ... And I know how loud it was in here when we hosted last year."
The Tigers will face off with No. 14 Hawaii (18-14) in Baton Rouge on Friday, March 17. The first round winners will return to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to square off the following Sunday. Tickets go on sale Monday, March 13 at 10 a.m.
"It is all about matchups," Mulkey said. "They have to guard us, what our strengths are, and we're gonna have to guard people that have perimeter shooters all over the floor. Hawaii shoots a lot of 3s from what I saw yesterday, but they also have inside play."
Mulkey projected earlier in the season that she expected her squad would be dinged for a soft non-conference schedule, despite landing at No. 3 in the NET rankings. The Tigers suffering a loss to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament also likely knocked them down the line slightly.
If nothing else, there's some bulletin board material for Mulkey and Co. as the tourney arrives. LSU was also a 3 seed in 2022, but were upset by the 6 seed Ohio State in the second round.
Still, LSU did pull what could be called a fortunate draw: They're on the opposite side of the bracket as South Carolina. If they meet in this year's tournament, it'd come in the championship game.
Here's how the potential road for LSU will be over the coming weeks:
March 17: No. 3 LSU vs No. 14 Hawaii
Should LSU win, they'd advance to meet the winner between No. 6 Michigan and No. 11 UNLV. If the Tigers advance to the Sweet 16, they'd have to face one of No. 2 Utah; No. 15 Gardner-Webb; No. 7 N.C. State; or No. 10 Princeton. The top seed in their region is Indiana, with No. 1 Virginia Tech and No. 2 UConn also landing on their side of the bracket.
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