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Dance Card: LSU, SEC at-large

With a SOS like that, the Bayou Bengals come in battle-tested.

Who? The Lady Tigers of Louisiana State. Occasionally known as Bayou Bengals to differentiate them from the myriad Tigers who prowl the NCAA.

What? Derived from the Tiger Rifles of New Orleans. Mike is named after LSU's athletic trainer at the time the first real tiger arrived on campus. (Fuzzy Mike is on Twitter. Furry Mike is actually named Roscoe.)

Where? Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which is rather practically built on a bluff.

When? March 23rd, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Why? Gotta be the strength of schedule. It's sure not the record.

How? They were an at-large selection.

Surprise? Predicted to finish third in the conference, they fell all the way to tenth. (Seriously, y'all lost tiebreakers with Alabama and Dominique Canty wasn't around?)

RPI: 11

SOS: 1

Record: 19-12 (7-9 Southeastern)

Good wins: At Tennessee.

Bad losses: Arkansas.

Who's running this show? Nikki Caldwell, since 2011. She has an affinity for animal prints (a unique way to wear team colors, I suppose).

Extra, Extra!The Advocate.

Senior center Theresa Plaisance leads LSU with 15.6 points and 7.6 rebounds, but she has been very inconsistent this year. Freshman guard Raigyne Moncrief (10.2 points) is a firestarter who plays the passing lanes well, but has a lot of rough edges that need to be filed off. But the unsung and understated soul of the Bayou Bengals is hard-nosed senior point guard Jeanne Kenney. She's second on the team in scoring at 11.6, but except for timely threes, scoring is not what her team looks to her for.