Kim Mulkey’s Blunt Take On LSU Schedule Turns Heads as SEC Losses Mount

LSU Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey addressed a question about her easy non-conference schedule after a second straight SEC loss on January 4.

LSU Head Coach Kim Mulkey meets with the media on March 20, 2025. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

The LSU Tigers women's basketball team looked like an absolute juggernaut during the early portion of the 2025-26 season.

Kim Mulkey's squad started the season off with a perfect 14-0 record and scored at least 100 points in nine of their 11 contests. And they reached the century mark in all of their first eight games, which set the NCAA women's basketball record for the most consecutive games reaching that 100-point mark.

However, while scoring that many points is impressive regardless of who is on the other side of the court, it must be said that LSU was not playing elite competition during the beginning of their season. All of their games were against relatively obscure mid-major schools like Houston Christian, Charlotte, and Alcorn State, none of whom could come close to the talent and discipline that Mulkey's Tigers team had, which is why LSU was able to score so much and dominate their opponents.

This is a conscious choice by Mulkey to play against these clearly inferior teams. She has always done this during her non-conference schedule, while other national powerhouses like UConn and South Carolina typically prefer to play other elite teams across the country.

Oct 15, 2025; Birmingham, Alabama, USA; LSU coach Kim Mulkey speaks at SEC Media Day in the Grand Bohemian Hotel. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

While this scheduling preference makes LSU look good early in the year, there's always a chance it can come back to bite the team once SEC Conference play begins, because Mulkey's roster isn't used to playing capable competition.

This seems to have happened this year, as LSU has lost two consecutive games to begin SEC play, with the first coming against No. 12-ranked Kentucky on January 1 and then against No. 11-ranked Vanderbilt on January 4.

Kim Mulkey sends clear message on LSU schedule question

Mulkey spoke with the media after Sunday's loss to Vanderbilt and was asked about the lack of difficulty LSU faces with its non-conference schedule.

"If we hadn't played that schedule, we might would be sitting here with a lot of losses," Mulkey said, per an X post from Cory Diaz of The Daily Advertiser.

Kim Mulkey first is asked about #LSU's nonconference schedule.

"If we hadn't played that schedule, we might would be sitting here with a lot of losses."#LSU

— Cory Diaz (@ByCoryDiaz) January 5, 2026

Perhaps Mulkey is right. Or perhaps her team would have been better equipped to handle in-game adversity at this point in the season, and would therefore find ways to win these tight games against the opponents who matter the most.

Then again, Mulkey won a national championship using the same scheduling strategy in the 2022-23 season, so it clearly works when she has the right roster personnel.

Regardless, LSU is in need of a win during their next game against Georgia on January 8.