Only a few days after committing to the Baylor Bears basketball team, it seems like LSU's future is as bleak as ever. The reports seem to indicate that he had interest in LSU, but that interest wasn't mutual, or mutual enough for his liking. In a clearly football oriented state that produces many great athletes for the gridiron, Louisiana is on the other end of the spectrum for basketball.

Every couple of years, historically, it seems like there is a can't miss recruit. Recently, however, LSU has been missing them. It started perhaps in 2007 with LaceDarius Dunn going to Baylor as the best recruit from Louisiana. 2008 had Greg Monroe head up to Washington DC to play for Georgetown. The next few years, LSU was able to get the top talent, but it wasn't enough. Matt Derenbecker went to Dayton after his freshman year, while Eddie Ludwig and John Isaac have been role players for their careers.

The correlation seems to be that in the years LSU is at their worst, their talent from Louisiana also happens to be the worst. I think it's a fair opinion to have, but I don't think that tells the whole story. In other words, I don't think it's quite that simple.

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For the fifth time this season, the LSU Tigers fall on the road, this time to the Vanderbilt Commodores. For the second straight road game, however, in a loss I was pleased with the Tigers efforts. Despite the fact that it was a 15 point final, it was much closer for most of the game. The Tigers went into the locker room with a tie at halftime, and for much of the second half it was only a 2 score deficit.

John Jenkins and Jeffrey Taylor, as mentioned in the gamethread, made the difference. It's not a surprise to anyone that the best players on the Vanderbilt team made the plays they needed to down the stretch. In a somewhat shocking occurrence, Jenkins actually missed 2 free throws, the same amount as he missed in the previous eight SEC games. However, it was only a minor victory as he buried two dagger three pointers with time winding down in the second half.

Festus Ezeli was probably the MVP for the game, as he was unstoppable in the second half for a long stretch. Whether he was getting fouled or getting a dunk, all Vanderbilt had to do was throw it his way and they were coming away with points or a chance for points. If not for his poor free throw shooting, it might have been a much worse game.

The story for LSU was both a few breakdowns on defense during key stretches, as well as extremely poor 3 point shooting. The Tigers finished with a dismal 3-21 night from 3. Hickey and Stringer combined to go 2-16 from 3 themselves, while Hickey was the only player to make those shots. There were also defensive lapses by both the guards and the forwards as both Taylor and Jenkins hit back to back 3's each at different time to add cushion to the Vanderbilt leads.

All is not lost for the Tigers. Alabama is still coming to Baton Rouge on Saturday, and I don't think I need to point out the importance of that game. Whether it helps us get to the NCAA's, NIT, or simply to eliminate bad memories, it's an absolutely key game.

Now halfway through the SEC regular season, the LSU Tigers sit in a tie for 8th place with the Tennessee Volunteers at 3-5. So far, the road has been very unkind to the Tigers in SEC play, as they are yet to win a game. Despite the fact that Vanderbilt has been relatively disappointing this season, it still seems unlikely that LSU will be able to win in Nashville.

The Tigers did pick up a much needed win over SEC West rival Arkansas on Saturday, but with the news that Ricardo Gathers decided to take his talents to Waco, SEC fans will need another win to keep calm. Vanderbilt comes into tonight's 8:00 CT tip off with a stable 16-7 (5-3) record, but with the high off-season expectations, the 'Dores have underachieved so far.

At the beginning of the year, the story/reason/excuse was that Vanderbilt was missing center Festus Ezeli, a starter from last year and an anchor down low. With the ambitious schedule, losses were bound to happen, especially with so many good teams on the schedule.

The early season was a mix of good, bad, wtf?, and meh... losses. Cleveland State, while a decent team themselves, shouldn't have been able to pick up a win on Vanderbilt's home court. Louisville and Xavier were both overtime losses, and hot teams at the time of those games, but you would have expected a senior-laden Vanderbilt team to win at least one of the games. Indiana State is similar to Cleveland State, an OK team, but not a team you expect to see beat the 'Dores.

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The final week before the Superbowl is done. Things will get real interesting from Monday onward. As always check out Garnet and Black Attack for the results later in the week. For now here's what I think about the SEC.

1. Kentucky- No surprises here. They will have some tough competition this week with Florida followed by a visit to Nashville for a prime time game with Vanderbilt.

2. Florida- The Gators have rebounded very nicely from some early losses. Although I thought they might be a disappointment team, they seem to be as good as their ranking right now.

3. Mississippi State- The Bulldogs held off Auburn at home, and it's enough for me to put them here. I think, right now, UF and UK are on another level, but the Bulldogs will have their chance against UK later in the month.

4. Vanderbilt- Two straight losses put Vanderbilt in a tough spot. They have LSU and Kentucky this week, and although they should beat LSU, a loss there could be damaging with the 'Cats playing at a high level.

5. Alabama- The Tide were finally able to finish off Ole Miss in double overtime. It keeps them in the race for that final bye for the SEC tournament.

6. Mississippi- The Rebels have played well ever since the debacle against LSU. They will probably be around the bubble for the rest of the season. They have one win over State already. Could they make it two this week?

7. Arkansas- I wanted to drop Arkansas after losing to LSU, but their SEC play has been superior so far, barely. They could be in trouble if they don't find a way to win on the road. A game against Georgia could be their first win away from Fayetteville.

8. LSU- The Tigers do get a bump after a few weeks of sliding after a gutty home win over the Hogs. The offense looked the best it has all season. Vanderbilt will be tough, but I have a feeling Alabama will be walking into a hornet's nest on Saturday.

9. Tennessee- The Vols didn't hurt themselves by losing to Georgia, but it's not too much to really move them ahead in the standings.

10. Auburn- The other Tigers fought hard against Mississippi State, but didn't have enough defense to pull out a win. Having only 3 turnovers in a complete game is quite impressive though, especially on the road.

11. South Carolina- Neither the Gamecocks or UGA Bulldogs did anything to move, so I don't think I should put them back in last place.

12. Georgia- The schedule doesn't get any easier as the Bulldogs welcome Arkansas this week before two more road games. Beating Arkansas would be a minor upset, and it's certainly possible.

The LSU Tigers picked up their first win in more than 2 weeks, and even the series with the Arkansas Razorbacks, by putting up a 71-65 win. It was as much of a team effort as the Tigers have had in a long time, as four different players scored in double figures, and eight players tallied more than 10 minutes of game time.

The player of the game, I thought, was Anthony Hickey. Hickey finished with 12 points, 3 steals, and 3 assists. With a 6-11 shooting day, he will maintain his over-50% shooting percentage for SEC play. Looking at the box score, you wouldn't think that Hickey was the difference maker, but it was evident that when he sat with foul trouble that the team wasn't playing as good as they would when he was on the floor.

The reason was that Hickey led the ATTACK against the Arkansas press. Not only did LSU's guards cut down on the turnovers, they actively ran up the court to beat Arkansas to the basket. It worked, very well, and was the difference in the game. Rather than tiring LSU out, at times it looked like the Hogs were the tired team as they got into deep foul trouble in the second half.

It would be insulting to ignore PMAC's favorite player, Eddie Ludwig, who immediately made an impact off the bench. Eddie finished with 12 big points and 4 rebounds. On a day when Johnny O'Bryant couldn't get anything to go down, Eddie was there to either clean up the mess or draw the foul. His first basket was an "and1" foul, and he followed up with the free throw. Only minutes later it was a somewhat lucky 3 pointer from the top of the key that got him up to 6 points.

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Game 2 of 2 in the regular season between the Arkansas Razorbacks and LSU Tigers tips off this afternoon at around 12:45 CT. As previously mentioned yesterday, this is the first of the "next four" set of core games where the Tigers will decide the fate of their season. Simply put, once these four games are completed, we will know the fate of the Tigers' postseason.

That said, it's far from decided. The game today could be used as a springboard for a strong end of the season, or become the game that pushes the Tigers farther down the "postseason ladder". The first game of this series was pretty one sided the entire second half, though it was close for the entire first half. The final was 69-60, though looking back at it statistically it seems like it should have been even more of a blowout.

The story of the game was 3 point shooting. Arkansas made a lot of them, and a lot of clutch shots, LSU didn't. The Hogs finished the game at 50%, 9-18 as a team, while LSU went 3-18 for a dismal 16%. Perhaps the only positive to come from that poor shooting was the abundance of offensive rebounds, which kept the Tigers in the game. LSU actually dominated the offensive glass and had 16 total offensive rebounds, and won the complete game rebounding battle by 8.

Of note is that Malcolm White will be sitting this game out due to a team suspension for the flagrant foul against Anthony Davis. It was an LSU/coach's decision to make the move. Personally, I think it's a bad move. I mean, there's a time and a place for discipline, and it's not in the midst of a 3 game losing streak. There's a difference between what White did, which was in the heat of the moment, and what happened with fights across NCAA basketball earlier this season. With the ejection from last game, he already served essentially a game for the foul. Of course, I don't know everything behind the scenes, but the quote by Trent Johnson on the matter seems like he made the decision.

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The LSU Tigers will conclude a week-long break Saturday afternoon, as the Arkansas Razorback come to town for a crucial game in the SEC season. The Razorbacks 16-6 (4-3) have rallied since the mid-way point of January and went 4-2 over that stretch, including a win over the Michigan Wolverines. One of those wins was a home win against the LSU Tigers back on the 14th. Things are going good in Fayetteville for the Hogs.

Outside of Fayetteville, however, the Razorbacks are yet to win a game. They currently have an 0-5 record in road games, while they haven't played a neutral site game. A lot of writers from across college basketball are wondering what to make of the Arkansas team. Are they a team worthy of the NCAA tournament? Their resume is coming along nicely, especially with how poorly it started. Yet as they try to find a spot for them in bracket projections, they hold off because of the lack of a road win.

LSU, on the other hand, is virtually the opposite. They have been all across the country so far, compiling a 5-6 record over road and neutral sites. Of course, the SEC did LSU no favors in the scheduling, as 4 of the last 6 were road games, and the previous home game was Kentucky. The Tigers finished with a 1-5 record in those games, a win in OT against Auburn being that lone win.

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'Nother week, 'nother powerpoll. As always check Garnet and Black Attack for the results. Feel free to tell me where I got it wrong too.

1. Kentucky- There's not too much to add about the Wildcats, though they do seem to have improved a lot on the road from last season to this season. Like most good teams, their tougher games are after the Superbowl when the ratings will be higher. We shouldn't see any losses until then.

2. Vanderbilt- Although not an SEC win, a win over Middle Tennessee State is a good way to keep momentum going. Early in the season, I doubt that the 'Dores would have won that game, but they've stepped up since then.

3. Florida- A sweep of the Mississippi teams moves UF into a tie with Vanderbilt for second place. With 4 games against the above teams, don't count out the Gators just yet.

4. Mississippi State- A tough loss to Florida on the road might move them out of the top 20 nationally, but they will probably climb back into the top 20 as they have 3 home games in a row coming next.

5. Mississippi- There's not really another team that can make a legitimate claim to this spot with a .500 or worse SEC record.

6. Alabama- Somehow, after giving South Carolina their first SEC win, the Tide stays in the top half of the powerpoll. It's really only because they beat Arkansas in the head to head match up.

7. Arkansas- The Hogs have been up and down, but are settling into the middle of the SEC standings. I think after Marshawn Powell's injury it could have been a lot worse.

8. Tennessee- Despite being a sub .500 team, I think they are better than their record with Jarnell Stokes in the lineup. I don't think they are top 15 like Cuonzo Martin said, or even top 50 for that matter. They are still improved.

9. LSU- The Tigers are through the tough stretch in the schedule, but don't have anything to show for it. Things could spiral out of control if they don't get a win over Arkansas.

10. Auburn- The other Tigers are at 10 based on the loss head to head to LSU last week. I still think they will spoil a game for someone though.

11. South Carolina- The Gamecocks move up to 11th after a win over Alabama. Hooray!

12. Georgia- The Bulldogs now share the last place spot with South Carolina, and a spot at the bottom of the powerpoll should reflect that.