Five takeaways: LSU baseball earns No. 6 seed in NCAA Tournament

USA Today

27-05-2025

Five takeaways: LSU baseball earns No. 6 seed in NCAA Tournament
The official NCAA Baseball Tournament bracket was revealed on Monday. The LSU Tigers landed at No. 6. As expected, Jay Johnson's squad is a top-eight national seed and in a position to host a Super Regional if they make it out of the first weekend.
LSU didn't get postseason baseball at The Box last year as the Tigers were sent to the Chapel Hill Regional. Tournament baseball at Alex Box Stadium is one of the best environments in college sports. The last time LSU earned a national seed, in 2023, the Tigers went all the way, winning the College World Series. LSU eyes a similar path this year.
LSU capped off a 43-14 regular season with a 1-1 showing in the SEC Tournament. LSU beat Texas A&M in the conference quarterfinals before falling to Ole Miss in the semis. The win over A&M was enough to solidify LSU's position as a top-eight seed, and the Tigers entered Monday without much suspense.
Here are five takeaways from the bracket reveal.
LSU gets a favorable draw
The Baton Rouge regional sets up well for LSU. The No. 4 seed, Little Rock, has the lowest RPI in the NCAA Tournament. Rhode Island owns the worst RPI among No. 3 seeds.
At 40-16, Dallas Baptist has a good squad, but it's coming off back-to-back losses in its conference tournament.
LSU has a significant talent edge vs. every team in this field. Some No. 1 seeds weren't as lucky. Clemson, the No. 1 seed in the regional opposite of LSU, has to deal with Power Four foes West Virginia and Kentucky in its regional.
Little Rock doesn't pose much of a threat
We said Little Rock had the lowest RPI in the entire field. Taking a deeper dive into the numbers, there isn't much to scare LSU. This is the type of team LSU usually handles business against. Little Rock is just 24-32 and punched a ticket to the dance by going on a run in the Ohio Valley Tournament.
The Trojans' lineup ranks near the bottom of the conference in production. They rank No. 9 out of 10 in slugging and batting average. Little Rock doesn't have a single player with double-digit home runs, but Ty Rhoades leads the squad with nine.
Dallas Baptist has postseason fortitude
Dallas Baptist is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament. The last time the Patriots were left out of the dance was 2013. DBU played in the Tucson Regional last year, falling in three games. In 2021, Dallas Baptist fell one game short of a trip to Omaha, pushing Virginia to three games in a super regional.
Alex Box Stadium can be intimidating in the postseason, but DBU is familiar with big-time baseball.
The Dallas Baptist lineup has the talent to play spoiler, leading Conference USA with 96 home runs on the year.
How important is the top-eight seed?
LSU fans know how important the top-eight national seeds are. Hosting a Super Regional is critical to LSU's College World Series hopes. Since the modern format was adopted in 1999, LSU has never punched a ticket to Omaha without playing the super regional in Alex Box.
In 2025, LSU is 30-5 at home and 8-8 on the road. This squad enjoys the comfort of Alex Box Stadium.
Looking ahead to the Super Regional
With LSU at No. 6, the Baton Rouge Regional sits opposite the Clemson Regional, headlined by the No. 11-seeded Clemson Tigers. We hinted at it earlier, but the Clemson Regional has three Power Four squads. Clemson, West Virginia, and Kentucky are all capable of winning it.
The best case for LSU is that those three teams beat each other up and push the regional to seven games. LSU would like its chances vs. a tired visitor in the Super Regional.
The flip side is that all three have enough talent to upset LSU, but the Tigers would still be heavy favorites vs. West Virginia or Kentucky. Clemson poses a greater threat.