3 Things to Know: LSU hosts Jacksonville in NCAA Tournament

The LSU women’s basketball team is hosting the First and Second Rounds of the Women’s NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in Kim Mulkey‘s five seasons with the program.

But, for the first time under Mulkey, the Tigers head into March Madness as a No. 2 seed. LSU has been a No. 3 seed in each of Mulkey’s first four seasons in Baton Rouge.

On Friday, the Big Dance begins for LSU when the Tigers host No. 15 seed Jacksonville for a 5 p.m. tipoff in the PMAC.

The game will be televised on ESPN with Tiffany Greene (play-by-play), Carolyn Peck (analyst) and Alyssa Lang (reporter) on the call. Tigers fans can listen to the game on the LSU Sports Radio Network with Patrick Wright and Shaeeta Williams on the call.

With a win, LSU advances to Sunday’s Round of 32 to face the winner of Texas Tech and Villanova. The two programs will meet on Friday night in the PMAC following LSU’s matchup with Jacksonville.

LSU is the fifth-overall seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, landing as the No. 2 seed in the Sacramento Regional. LSU is on the same side of the bracket as No. seed 1 UCLA, No. 3 seed Duke and No. 4. seed Minnesota.

If the Tigers advance through the weekend’s two games in Baton Rouge, LSU returns to the Sweet 16 for the fourth season in a row. The Tigers have reached at least the Elite 8 in each of the past three seasons, which includes the program’s first basketball National Championship in 2023.

With Mulkey looking to secure win No. 150 as LSU’s head coach, here’s what LSU fans need to know ahead of Friday’s game against Jacksonville.

1. The No. 2 vs. No. 15 matchup isn’t expected to be a close one … With LSU selected by the tournament committee as the highest-seeded team outside the four No. 1 seeds, the Baton Rouge Regional should not present many hurdles for the Tigers. LSU is favored to beat Jacksonville on Friday by more than 50 points, with gambling lines set between 51.5 points and 53.5 points. The over/under has been hovering around 162-163 combined points between the Tigers and Dolphins. Translation: LSU is expected to eclipse 100 points while keeping Jacksonville in the 50-point range in Friday’s opening round matchup.

2. LSU can score with any team in college basketball … Through 32 games, LSU has averaged 94.5 points per game, which leads the nation. If the season ended today, the program’s 94.5 points per game average would set a new SEC record for a single season – a spot currently held by Georgia dating back 40 years to when the Bulldogs averaged 89.2 points per game across 32 games during the 1986 season. LSU has already scored more than 3,000 points this season.

3. That’s not all LSU leads the country in this season … Eclipsing 3,000 points on the season before the NCAA Tournament and averaging 95 points per game are both head-turning stats for a women’s college basketball program, but a deeper dive into the numbers brings even more good news for LSU’s chances of making another deep run in March. While guard play is key in the postseason, Mulkey used Thursday’s NCAA Tournament press conference to circle some other impactful metrics for success in the postseason: having talented bigs in the paint and production off the bench. Fortunately, the Tigers have both. Beyond an NCAA-best average of 95 points per game, LSU leads the country in bench points per game (39.2) and rebound margin (16.9).