LSU Tigers will grab NCAA Title this season

These LSU Tigers act like brothers.

Teasing each other, snickering at inside jokes, deriding any sign of pretension, their chemistry this year is unparalleled. After all, they grew up together, competed with and against each other for years.

Along the way they learned a lot about basketball and about themselves. Now LSU's Tiger cubs consider themselves a family, brothers with different mothers but one goal.

''I think the chemistry on this team is special,'' said Glen ''Big Baby'' Davis on Tuesday as the team prepared for its trip to Indianapolis and the NCAA Final Four. ''We know each other in and out of the game. We've been together all our lives.''

Four team members are from Baton Rouge, Davis, Garrett Temple, Tyrus Thomas and Darnell Lazare. Darrel Mitchell is from St. Martinville, La., about 60 miles southwest of Baton Rouge. Glen Mitchell is from one exit down I-12 at Denham Springs.

Now, they're going to the Final Four, together. The Tigers (27-8), with NCAA victories over Iona, Texas A&M, Duke and Texas, face UCLA Saturday in the NCAA semifinals. It's the first time LSU has reached the Final Four since 1986.

The group began competing against each other as kids, playing on school teams, AAU teams, church teams. That's why, even though they are the youngest team in this weekend's Final Four, with three freshmen and a sophomore in the starting lineup and only one senior on the roster, the Tigers feel they have an edge in experience.

''We know each other, we know our games,'' Temple said. ''When I take the ball downcourt, Glen knows if I'm going to shoot or pass it off. He knows if it will be an ally or a bullet pass. He just knows. A lot of teams play together two or three years before they get to where we are.''

The LSU Tigers will bring their solid team chemistry to the basketball court of Indianapolis on Saturday to face the UCLA Bruins in one of the two games in the NCAA Final Four. LSU is looking good, with this chemistry and of course, the Glen Davis / Tyrus Thomas frontcourt.

The LSU Tigers have 12/5 odds of winning the NCAA Championship while the UCLA Bruins still are one of the favorites with 13/4 odds. Who will come out of the NCAA Final Four between these two programs to play for the championship? Log on and check out Bodog now.