ESPN BPI Projects 2020 NCAA Tournament, LSU Basketball Knocks Off Familiar Foe
Even though there is no longer an NCAA tournament to look forward to in 2020, that doesn't mean we can't pretend who and how the games would fare.
On Wednesday, ESPN released its projections on how the tournament would have turned out based on the BPI (Basketball Power Index). The BPI is a measure of team strength based off of a variety of different components. Games are predicted based on opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day's rest and altitude.
LSU finished the season with the No. 33 BPI according to ESPN, which was No. 4 among SEC schools. As a result, the Tigers were placed as a No. 8 seed in the West Region of the mock tournament predictions.
The Tigers first opponent is one purple and gold fans have become accustomed to seeing throughout the 2019-20 sporting cycle. LSU was matched up with No. 9 seed Oklahoma in the first round of the tournament, a team that in football, LSU scorched 63-28 in the CFP semifinal and in the same breath, were no hit by the Sooners in baseball.
"Hey, look at that! It's a rematch of the national semifinal in football. Good news for Oklahoma: It loses by fewer than 35 points this time. Bad news: It still loses," ESPN writer Seth Walder wrote about the NCAA tourney matchup.
So LSU would keep dancing, moving on to the second round of the tournament with a matchup against a No. 1 seed, and in this case that team would be Gonzaga. While it's nice to think that LSU could've hung around with the 31-2 Bulldogs, ultimately their run comes to an end on the first weekend.
"A 20-point, 8-rebound performance by Killian Tillie keeps Gonzaga's title hopes alive, as the Bulldogs move past the Tigers and into the second weekend," Walder wrote about the Tigers second round game.
If it makes you feel any better, LSU was one of just two teams to make it into the second round out of the SEC in the projected tournament. Both No. 9 seed Florida and No. 5 seed Auburn lost in the Round of 64 to Colorado and Liberty respectively.
Even the No. 2 seeded Wildcats couldn't make it out of the first weekend, dropping their second game of the tournament to No. 7 Providence. In the end, it was No. 4 seed Wisconsin that knocked off No. 6 seed BYU for the national championship
Again, there's no telling if these outcomes would've been remotely true, especially because Wisconsin was given a 1% chance to win the tournament. But with no way of knowing, it's nice to pass the time with a little 'what if' syndrome.
