LSU begins quest for national title, faces Florida Atlantic in first round

3/16/2006 2:17 AM

Two consecutive Final Fours have only raised expectations for LSU, which enters the NCAA tournament as one of a handful of favorites to win the national championship.

The Tigers (27-3) earned the top seed in the San Antonio regional and begin NCAA tournament play against 16th-seeded Florida Atlantic (20-10) in the first round on Saturday, looking to make it to Boston for their third straight Final Four.

LSU was a surprise entrant in the national semifinals in 2004, when it lost to Tennessee 52-50 in a dramatic game. The Tigers spent most of last season ranked No. 1 and were the favorites heading into the tournament before a loss to Baylor in the national semifinals.

That loss only sharpened the focus for LSU and senior Seimone Augustus, the 2004-05 national player of the year.

``I feel good, not just about the No. 1 seed, but just the opportunities that we have in front of us to actually have a chance for the title,'' said Augustus, who was chosen SEC player of the year. ``This is for everything.''

Augustus, who is second on LSU's career scoring list and averages 23.0 points, and center Sylvia Fowles, averaging 16.7 points and 11.6 rebounds, form a dominant 1-2 combination for the Tigers, whose only losses came to Connecticut, Tennessee and Florida.

The Tigers went 12-3 against NCAA tournament teams, and the tough scheduling helped LSU secure the third No. 1 seed in school history.

``We are extremely proud of it,'' second-year LSU coach Pokey Chatman said. ``When you put a team together that is going to stay together, that's a long shot. Responding to opponents and putting in the most work possible to put yourself in that position, it's nice to be rewarded for it at the end of the regular season.''

Making it back to the Final Four will be considered a success, but now that the Tigers are expected to compete for the national title, anything short of that may be viewed as a letdown.

Chatman, who was the 2005 national coach of the year, said the Tigers won't be overlooking any opponent.

``It's probably easier for the fans to do that,'' said Chatman, whose career record is 60-6. ``This is the one time a year where you are one and done. The best thing about it is you have to put your best foot forward so to be on the outside looking in, I think it's good for people to look at matchups, but the bottom line is you have to play one and win one to get to the next one. So, it keeps it in focus.''

The Owls earned their first NCAA tournament bid by winning the Atlantic Sun tournament championship with a 74-63 victory over Gardner-Webb.

``It's been a long time coming,'' Florida Atlantic coach Chancellor Dugan said. ``A very long time.''

Florida Atlantic lost in the 2002 Atlantic Sun title game, the furthest it had advanced before this season.

Shontavia Williams, who leads the Owls with 16.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, broke school records this season for the most games played - with 114- and points in a career with 1,458.

Florida Atlantic finished the season 17-4 after losing six of its first nine.

LSU won the only other meeting between the schools, an 88-55 victory in 2002.

The winner faces either eighth-seeded Minnesota or No. 9 seed Washington in the second round Monday.