LSU men, Tulane women winning close in early conference hoops season

Maybe you’re still in football mode – after all, it was only a week ago today that LSU had its national championship parade and it’s about to be Super Bowl week – but 50 days from now is Selection Sunday in men’s college basketball, with the women following a day later.

What have you missed? For one, drama.

The LSU men, which won the Southeastern Conference a year ago, are in position to defend that title after starting 6-0 in league play.

Will Wade’s team has won the close games – after opening SEC play with a 14-point win at Tennessee, the Tigers’ last five wins have been by 2, 1, 4, 4 and 2 points, or an average of 2.6 points per game.

It’s quite a turnabout from pre-conference play, when LSU lost three times by a bucket against VCU, Utah State and USC.

The Tigers play their final non-conference game Saturday afternoon against Texas in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge in Austin. SEC play resumes Wednesday against Alabama.

It’s been a similar script Uptown with Tulane’s women.

Lisa Stockton’s squad, which was 4-8 at Christmas, is also 6-0 in conference play and is one of two unbeatens in the American Athletic Conference, along with perennial power UConn.

The Green Wave’s wins in league play are also close – by 5, 2, 4, 1, 5 and 1 points, with a pair of buzzer-beaters mixed in. That’s an average margin of victory of 3.0 points per game.

Things get tougher for Tulane beginning Saturday afternoon at South Florida, which has been the second-best program in the conference in recent years.

There are more area success stories.

Loyola’s men are 15-5 and ranked 17th in the latest NAIA Division I coaches poll, while the women are 13-3 and ranked 14th.

Xavier’s men and women have both been ranked this season. The men (14-3) are currently 15th heading into a big Gulf Coast Athletic Conference showdown Saturday against Talladega.

At one point earlier this year, there were five different NAIA schools in Louisiana with nationally ranked basketball programs.