The LSU Tigers have almost completed the first part of their non-conference schedule. All that stands between them and the start of SEC play is a midweek game against Xavier Tuesday night.
After their midweek game, LSU will host the Missouri Tigers this weekend to start what's going to be an absolutely brutal SEC schedule. Last year, they faced all of the top teams in the conference early, but this year it appears to be the opposite.
After Missouri, the Tigers will travel to Austin, Texas to Face the No. 11 Texas Longhorns. It will be the first time these two powerhouses have faced off as conference opponents, and it should set the tone for the rest of the season.
Once their road trip to Austin is over, the Tigers will face unranked Mississippi State at Alex Box before heading to Norman, Oklahoma for a road series against another new SEC opponent, the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners. Somehow, the Tigers ended up having to travel to face both of their new SEC opponents.
Instead of heading home after the Oklahoma series, the Tigers will stay on the road and head to Alabama to face the No. 25 Auburn Tigers in Samford Stadium before coming home to host the No. 17 Alabama Crimson Tide the following week.
This is where things get really tough for the Tigers. They get to stay home for the second straight weekend, but have to welcome the No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers to town before turning around and heading to No. 24 Texas A&M, who we know has a ton of talent, they just haven't been able to put it together yet. Immediately after that, LSU comes back to Alex Box to host No. 3 Arkansas. That means LSU will potentially have back-to-back home series against top-five teams.
Finally, the Tigers get a bit of a break to finish the season when they travel to Columbia, South Carolina to face the Gamecocks, who are led by former LSU Head Coach, Paul Mainieri.
Of their 10 SEC series, seven of them come against opponents who are currently ranked in D1 Baseball's top-25. Of those seven ranked series, three of them are at home, but their first ranked, home series doesn't come until April 17th, when they face Alabama.
As you can tell, as it typically is, the SEC is brutal this year. They currently have 12 teams in the top-25 and five in the top-10. LSU will avoid playing No. 4 Georgia, No. 7 Florida, No. 13 Ole Miss and No. 16 Vanderbilt in the regular season, but if they make the run they expect in the SEC Tournament, they could very well end up seeing around 10 ranked opponents this season.
There's a lot of opportunities for big wins, but there's also a lot of opportunities for losses. This team is going to lose some games and probably even a few series this year despite being the No. 1 team in the country. The SEC is crazy talented, so when LSU inevitably loses a couple games in a weekend, try not to lose your heads. Remember, the Tigers went 13-17 in SEC play last year and took a UNC team who went to Omaha to extras in game seven of their own regional.
Jay Johnson has assembled a team that could easily make it to Omaha in 2025, but even the 2023 team went 19-10 in SEC play. SEC baseball is hard, so I think fans should set reasonable expectations and be pleased with any record over .500, because that likely still means they're a top-10 team in the country.
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