Comparing LSU's 2026 Season to the Last Time it Missed the NCAA Tournament

It's the first regional weekend since 2011 that LSU is just a spectator and not a participant.

After a historically poor year for LSU, which is arguably the worst season for the Tigers in the last 50 years, it could feel like the world is crumbling. History shows that it probably isn't the end of the world.

LSU head coach Jay Johnson is going to attack the transfer portal, and LSU is going to wipe the 2026 season from memory and find success in 2027? Why? Because there's precedent for it.

Comparing 2011 and 2026

Former LSU head coach Paul Mainieri jogs onto the field in 2019 | SCOTT CLAUSE/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Content Services, LLC

A main similarity between these two squads is the large production from underclassmen.

In 2011, freshmen pitchers Kevin Gausman and Kurt McCune starred in the starting rotation. Freshman second baseman JaCoby Jones was one of the best hitters, along with sophomores Raph Rhymes and Mason Katz.

For the 2026 team, freshmen bats helped lead the team, primarily from catcher Omar Serna Jr. and first baseman/outfielder Mason Braun, while second baseman Jack Ruckert and right fielder William Patrick started to shine toward the end of the year.

Sophomores also helped lay the way for LSU's future. Catcher Cade Arrambide was LSU's best hitter down the stretch, center fielder Derek Curiel was fantastic all year, Casan Evans and William Schmidt manned the rotation, though Evans missed a few weeks with injury.

The 2011 Tigers were two years removed from a national championship, the first under Paul Mainieri. They went 36-20 overall with an SEC record of 13-17, a number that would have had them on the bubble this year. Only eight of 12 teams made the SEC tournament, which LSU was not a part of.

The 2026 Tigers were out of the NCAA tournament by a long shot, finishing with a 30-28 mark, including a school-worst 9-21 conference record.

Both teams had stellar starts to the season, though. LSU won its first 11 games in 2011 and entered SEC play 16-1. The Tigers had their best start under Johnson in 2026, opening with eight straight wins.

SEC sweeps were a part of both teams' campaigns. LSU was swept three times in 2011 and five times in 2025. The Tigers won four SEC series in 2011, sweeping two, and won three in 2026, only sweeping a lowly South Carolina squad.

What did the future hold after 2011?

Raph Rhymes fist bumps a teammate while walking off the field in a 2013 game | Crystal LoGiudice-Imagn Images

LSU retooled quickly and won the 2012 SEC regular season championship, going 47-18 overall and 19-11 in SEC play. Rhymes and Katz were the only everyday starters to bat above .300, with Rhymes posting a blistering .431 average, recording 100 hits. Gausman posted a stellar 2.77 ERA as well.

The Tigers earned the No. 7 national seed and won the Baton Rouge regional but fell in the super regional at home to Stony Brook, who became the second-ever 4-seed to make it to the College World Series.

In 2013, LSU returned to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. after a 57-11 record and 23-7 SEC mark.

That team was led offensively by Katz and Rhymes again, with the emergence of freshman Alex Bregman playing a large part too. Ryan Eades, a freshman pitcher on the 2011 team, had an ERA of 2.79 on an elite pitching staff.

If LSU's young guys on the 2026 team can stay at LSU and develop like the 2011 team did, along with the help of some transfers, LSU can remake history.

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