LSU earned a No. 6 seed in our hypothetical bracket in 2020, but hadn’t been to the Sweet Sixteen since 2014 at the time Kim Mulkey took over for Nikki Fargas prior to the 2021-22 season. It was a homecoming for Mulkey. For LSU, it was a chance to build the type of program Mulkey built at Baylor in Baton Rouge. Mulkey led the Bears to three national championships (2005, 2012 and 2019), four Final Fours, 10 Elite Eights, 15 Sweet Sixteens and 19 NCAA Tournaments out of 20 opportunities (one year the tournament was canceled).
The Tigers were 9-13 (6-8 SEC) and missed the tournament the year before Mulkey took over. In 2021-22, they returned leading scorer and distributor Khayla Pointer and second-leading scorer/leading rebounder Faustine Aifuwa and brought in Texas A&M transfer Alexis Morris. National media was split on whether that core plus Mulkey would find success right away.
Then the Tigers lost their second game of the season, 88-74, to fellow eventual second-round team FGCU. Doubters said “See? Mulkey isn’t enough to turn that program around overnight.”
LSU would respond by winning its next 13 games, including three over ranked opponents. The Tigers wound up earning a No. 3 seed in the Big Dance. But they only won by six in the first round before suffering a…
