8. LSU Tigers (8-0)
When Illinois transfer Adam Miller went down with a season-ending injury before any games started, it looked like the Tigers were in for some troubles. It was a completely new-look roster outside of forward Darius Days and offense was a question on paper.
However, LSU has been one of the best teams in the country on defense, ranked 3rd in points allowed with 53.8 ppg. That includes wins over legit mid-major programs such as Ohio, Belmont, and Liberty. This team has yet to give up more than 61 points in regulation and has a bunch of blowouts to date.
It was expected that senior forward Days (16.0 ppg and 7.8 rpg) would lead the way but he’s gotten great support from the rest of the rotation. Five-star freshman center Efton Reid (10.1 ppg and 5.3 rpg) has picked it up of late, while Cincinnati transfer Tari Eason has arguably been the best bench player in the country, averaging 14.6 ppg and 7.9 rpg in 23 mpg so far.
The guards have been solid overall, led by the backcourt duo of Xavier Pinson and freshman Brandon Murray. The Missouri transfer leads the team with 4.9 apg. And Eric Gaines has been great as the first guard off the bench, averaging 8.9 ppg and 4.4 apg.
This isn’t the greatest shooting team and once they play against power conference teams with good frontcourts, we could see LSU go down a notch once SEC play comes. But they’ll be favored in the next four games heading into league play and this defense so far looks for real.