NCAA Women's Tournament Bracket: LSU Lady Tigers preview

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

When will they play? South Florida on Saturday, March 21 at 6:30 p.m. ET.

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, a major shipping hub.

Why? Strength of schedule. I have a violent reaction to teams with less than 20 wins in the field who aren't auto-bids.

How? They were an at-large selection.

Surprise? Predicted to finish seventh in the conference, they tied Texas A&M and Kentucky for fourth, five games behind South Carolina and Tennessee.

RPI: 55

SOS: 26

Record: 17-13 (10-6 Southeastern)

Good wins: I like the win at Mississippi State better than the one against Kentucky.

Bad losses: At Long Beach State. (Santa Clara at Puerto Vallarta should be here, but that tournament turned into a steaming pile of disaster, so they get a pass.)

Who's running this show? Nikki Caldwell, since 2011, a champion at Tennessee.

Extra, Extra!The Advocate.

LSU is one of those confusing, mysterious teams that do things no one expects.

The Tigers have recovered well with the return of all-around junior guard Danielle Balliard. She leads them in scoring and rebounding, with 14.4 and 7.2. Dynamic sophomore Raigyne Moncrief adds 11.7, though she can be careless with the ball.

I think I should be disturbed at how much Sheila Boykin's shooting percentage boosts the Tigers.