A tough loss drops the LSU Tigers to No. 6. Now, they face the No. 3 South Carolina Gamecocks in a primetime showdown with NCAA tournament seeding on the line.
The LSU Tigers were closing in on a spot as a top-four team and potentially their first time as a one-seed in the Kim Mulkey era, but a loss to the Texas Longhorns has moved them back one spot.
The AP Poll was released on Monday afternoon. In it, the Tigers dropped from No. 5 to No. 6, replaced by the Vanderbilt Commodores team that beat them at the start of SEC play.
LSU is still in play for a one-seed in the NCAA tournament, but they'll need to finish out this season undefeated and make a deep run in the SEC tournament. Three of the teams ahead of them are conference opponents, so they'll have a chance to control their own destiny a bit.
That starts this weekend as their next game is against the third-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks in one of the most anticipated, regular season Women's College Basketball games of all time. It will be the first time that the sport receives the Saturday primetime slot on ABC.
The Gamecocks are 24-2 on the year. They have lost to the Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners. The Tigers have at least beaten both of those teams this season, even if they did just lose to one of them.
One team that LSU hasn't beaten is South Carolina. The last time the Tigers conquered the Gamecocks was at home back in January of 2012 in Nikki Fargas' first season.
Perhaps it'll be former South Carolina standout MiLaysia Fulwiley that helps LSU get over the edge.
Fulwiley may still be on the bench, but she has come into her own defensively and as a playmaker since Mulkey switched her to the point guard role. She's averaging 13.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 3.2 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.
These two squads will meet on Saturday, February 14 at 7:30 pm CT.