LSU Basketball Rise to No. 16 in Latest AP Polls, Hold Steady at No. 3 in NET Rankings

Tigers now just a few days away from beginning gauntlet of SEC schedule

LSU continued its rise up the AP top 25 as its undefeated streak to start the season reached 12 games last week with a win over Lipscomb. 

In the latest rankings, the purple and gold came in at the No. 16 spot, one of five SEC teams to be ranked in the post holiday top 25. LSU has also stayed pretty consistent throughout its 11-0 start in the NET rankings. The Tigers are No. 3 in the NET according to the latest rankings, sitting just behind Baylor and Arizona. 

For most of the season, LSU has had success because of its elite defensive numbers, allowing just 54.1 points per contest, No. 2 in the country. LSU is also No. 1 in steals per game and No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency. 

However, Will Wade was not a happy camper after the win over Lipscomb as he was very blunt about the number of turnovers on offense LSU had, particularly in the second half. The Tigers had 10 second half turnovers and while the game was already out of hand at that point, Wade points out that if it happens at Auburn in a few days, his team wil be in for a long night. 

"Everybody gets excited because we did that, that's not working next Wednesday at Auburn in that environment," Wade said after the game. "We go down there and cough the ball up like that, the roof's caving in. There'll be hanging from the rafters up there, it's the toughest environment in our league. I can see down the road, I live for reality and what's fixing to happen. That's the facts."

LSU faces an absolute gauntlet of a start to SEC play, starting with No. 11 Auburn before matchups with No. 18 Kentucky, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 19 Alabama, Florida and Arkansas all in the month of January. It's as tough a start to conference play as the Tigers could've drawn so taking it one game at a time is really the only way to look at it.