Louisiana Tigers Tickets

Louisiana State University Tigers Mens Basketball

The LSU Tigers looked NCAA Tournament-bound late in the 2003-04 season until an injury to star senior forward Jaime Lloreda derailed the team. The team went from 17-4 to 18-11 after the injury, and ended up on the wrong side the of selection committee's bubble. The season ended in the first round of the NIT, when they lost to the Oklahoma Sooners.

Now that they are planning to be without Lloreda in the lineup, scoring shouldn't be a problem. Sophomore Brandon Bass should step right into Lloreda's role at power forward. He averaged 12.8 points and 7.4 rebounds a game as a freshman, and big things are expected from him in his second year. He'll roam the paint with freshman Glen Davis, whose wide 6-9, 310-pound frame should take up the rest of the key. LSU fields an experienced backcourt as well, with Antonio Hudson, Darrel Mitchell and Tack Minor all able to average double-digits in scoring.

However, the strength of this team will lie in the paint. If Davis and Bass can feed off each other, the SEC and the rest of the NCAA should be on full alert. The LSU Tigers could do some serious damage come tournament time, conference or national.