LSU was the media's second choice in the SEC women's basketball preseason poll taken at SEC Media Days this week. Tennessee was nearly the unanimous choice to win the league (28 first place votes to LSU's two) while Georgia came in third followed by Vanderbilt. All-American Sylvia Fowles was named first-team All-SEC while Erica White took home second-team honors. The men's preseason predictions have yet to be released.

In the first ESPN coaches poll of men's basketball season, LSU didn't garner any votes. That's really no surprise after finishing 17-15 and losing All-Everything Glen Davis to the NBA Draft.

You can check out some of what John Brady, Van Chancellor and select players had to say at Media Day here.

On the women's basketball front, Texas has filled its coaching vacancy. And may I say, they hit a walk-off grand slam by stealing Gail Goestenkors from Duke. Expect Texas to become a perennial national power and win multiple national championships with her at the helm.

That brings us to LSU's coaching search. Immediately following Pokey Chatman's resignation, it was widely speculated that the SWA Judy Southartd would go after Baylor's Kim Mulkey. After a week of non-answer answers to the question by Mulkey during the Big 12 Tournament, we've heard nothing.

All we've gotten is one little article on the future of acting coach Bob Starkey. There's been no speculation except this gem:

What have Southard and Bertman been doing? The Longhorns managed to hire arguably the best coach in the nation less than two days after the Final Four and yet LSU hasn't even started a search? I'm not sure how this is possible, but it's reminding me more and more of the debacle that was the baseball coaching search last summer.

For a program as high profile as LSU, there doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency to go get the best coach out there right now. Maybe I'll be proven wrong and Skip will get his (wo)man for the job. But I won't believe it til I see it.

The last two weeks have been quite the roller coaster for the LSU women's basketball team. By now, everyone knows the story. And this collection of women have withstood everything to march thier way through the madness into a fourth straight Final Four. It was hard to imagine before the season a team that had lost one of the greatest players in women's collegiate history, Seimone Augustus, would manage to find itself playing in the last weekend of the season once again. It was even harder to imagine it after head coach Pokey Chatman resigned two weeks ago. But you have to credit acting head coach Bob Starkey and a resillient team for what they've overcome.

And there it is. LSU clearly has an abundance of talent on its roster. But it has been Starkey who has steered this ship through the storm and led his "family" -- a family without a single senior on the roster -- to daylight on the other side. Though the storm has calmed and smoother waters lie ahead, you have the feeling this team is ready to make its own waves by adding two more wins to this, the unlikeliest of NCAA Touranment runs.

There are butt-kickings, there are brutal butt-kickings and then, well, there are beatdowns of the ilk the Lady Tigers laid upon the Connecticut Huskettes tonight. 73-50! That's the sort of score we'd expect to see in the 2-15 game in Round 1 of the tourney. But in the Elite 8? Over a #1 seed? A 17-point lead in the first half? Holding the venerable Huskies to 20-for-60 from the floor, their worst outing of the season? Are you kidding me? Talk about sweet revenge for that buzzer-beater that wasn't quite enough!!!

So we'll call it an even trade then, UConn. You ended our 43-game home winning streak last month. We ended your season. Bellissimo!

Next up, the State University of New Jersey on Sunday night - I know, I know, I thought they were a football school too! Fourth year in a row to the Final Four, congratulations Lady Tigers! Bring it home this time.

Image courtesy LSUSports.net

John Brady added another member to the recruiting class for next year, Marcus Thornton out of Kilgore (Texas) College and Tara High School. Marcus should fill a void in the Tigers offense by giving them a player that can create his own shot and be an offensive threat from anywhere on the court.

The headliner of Brady's class is Anthony Randolph, the 17th-best prospect in the nation according to Rivals.com. He picked LSU over Georgetown and Texas.

The question has never been John Brady's (okay, Butch Pierre's) ability to recruit. The Tigers always seem to land one major recruit. They just can't ever seem to get that second or third to make a truly special team. Well, that and we're not exactly sure what kind of coaching these players receive when they show up on campus.

This should come as no surprise:

Thanks for the memories. And good luck!

Will he stay or will he go?

Personally, I think Big Baby is gone. There's not much more he can prove at the college level. His draft stock isn't tremendous, but that's more because of his size than anything else. He's averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds over the past two seasons and is ready to make the jump. We'll wish him well.

Of course, Glen, if you want to come back ... We'll sure as hell welcome you!

It sure wasn't pretty, but the LSU women's basketball team showed a lot of character to rally and advance to the Sweet 16 for the fifth straight year on Monday. The Lady Tigers have been on a roller coaster for the past two weeks between beating Tennessee, having their coach resign among sexual allegations and now playing in the NCAA Tournament under interim coach Bob Starkey. But this group of young women showed their resilience in a big way with an 11-point comeback to beat West Virginia, 49-43.

The game wasn't supposed to be this close. After all, LSU had dominated the same West Virginia squad 64-25 earlier in the season. Whether it was a case of overlooking an overmatched opponent or a loss of focus from a hurricane of events, the Lady Tigers clearly showed what they were made of down the stretch to move on.

Now awaiting them is a surprising Florida State squad, which upset No. 2-seed Stanford on the Cardinal's home court Saturday night.

So, congratulations to the Lady Tigers. You have to feel good for them to seem them go through everything they have -- which was all completely beyond their control -- and come out shining on the other end. Now they're two wins from a fourth-straight Final Four and a silver lining to their dark cloud.

As always, we invite your thoughts and comments by using the link below.

Okay, so ESPN, SI.com and everyone else jumped the gun a little bit on Glen Davis.

I find it interesting that he would say he's making a final decision next week. You have to admire that if he decides to leave, he's going full bore, but it doesn't seem like the smartest way to go about things. Of course, he's not tied to his word and could eventually change his mind.

I don't know anyone who thinks Davis will be back next year, leaving quite a hole in the middle for LSU to fill. Hopefully, Garrett Green or Quintin Thornton can fill the void somewhat, because I sure don't expect Magnum Rolle or Chris Johnson to be able to score 18 a game.

John Brady said today that All-American Glen Davis will declare for the NBA Draft. He has not declared before, meaning if he doesn't sign with an agent, he will be able to remove his name before the draft and return for a senior season. Right now, Davis is ranked as the No. 54 prospect on ESPN.com Chad Ford's Big Board (subscription).

Watching the SEC Tournament, you'd have thought Davis draft stock dropped significantly by him returning for his junior campaign. But that was mostly pundits blowing hot air (see Brando, Tim). If I remember correctly, Ford had Big Baby in the 50s last year as well. He has cleared up one big issue scouts have had by dropping 40 pounds last offseason. Looking at his numbers from this year, they were even or better across the board from the 2006. I also think he showed the ability to face the basket and shoot better, which he'll have to do at the next level.

Whether Davis chooses to stay in the draft will probably depend on a number of things, the first of which is if he believes he'll be a first-round pick. He would have to have some amazing workouts to get into the first round and I just don't see it happening. As an undersized power forward (by NBA standards), its unlikely Davis would ever project as more than a mid second-round choice, unless he returns to LSU and averages 30 and 15 while shooting 45 percent from three-point range.

When Davis finds out he won't be a first rounder, he might be tempted to come back and play his final year with friends Garrett Temple and Tasmin Mitchell. However, Brady would be well advised to sign some talent to supplement them so Davis thinks he can win by coming back.

Brady said Davis will meet with agents over the next couple weeks and make a decision about signing. He'd be wise to keep all his options on the table.