The SEC tournament kicked off on Wednesday morning with the last-place LSU Tigers taking on the Kentucky Wildcats. Though it was more tightly contested than many expected, the Wildcats took a 87-82 victory and eliminated the Tigers.
Max Mackinnon continued his strong close to the season with a 28-point performance. Mike Nwoko finished with a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double. It's hard to really focus on what happened on the court, though, as it could end up in a massive change for the program's future.
This officially puts an end to the fourth year in Baton Rouge for Matt McMahon, and the unceremonious exit will put a bad taste in the mouths of some decision makers.
While it's been left open-ended on whether or not they will actually move on from McMahon, finishing in last place and being the first team eliminated is not a good sign.
Here is where LSU has ended up in each of the last four years:
2022/2023: 14-19 (2-16)
2023/2024: 17-16 (9-9)
2024/2025: 14-18 (3-15)
2025/2026: 14-19 (3-15)
There has simply been zero improvement over the last few years. It looked like they were going in the right direction in the second season, but the past two campaigns undid that.
While it's true that injuries have hindered the progress and McMahon's squads have been very unlucky, it's just not a great look for the program.
If they do decide to run it back next year, it'll likely be built similarly to this year. DJ Thomas would be the engine and they've already received a commitment of Australian pro guard Owen Foxwell, who would slide into Mackinnon's role.
The Tigers will have to decide whether or not that is more intriguing than starting over again with a new head coach.
To give McMahon's teams credit where credit is due, the coach has had his team competing all year long despite the adversity. 10 of their 15 SEC losses were by 10 points or fewer. That means they were in a lot of games, but only being able to win three of them hurts.
Had Thomas been completely healthy during this run, this would have likely been a different conversation. The team was still clearly lacking enough to be elite with him at the helm, but they probably wouldn't have finished in last place.
LSU has a tough decision at its hands. It's unclear when that decision will be made, but there will likely be some time taken to mull it over.