The Deep South has a new basketball mid-major that’s worth watching, and it’s the Southeastern Louisiana Lions. Traditionally, the Lions have played at the lower levels of the college basketball food chain, leading to cheap Southeastern Louisiana basketball tickets and a program that’s easy to overlook. But that has changed in the 21st century. The Lions have turned themselves into a force to be reckoned with inside the Southland Conference. As a result, last-minute Southeastern Louisiana basketball tickets are now in high demand, and the Lions are a team that demands to be taken seriously.

Little Lions

For much of the program’s history, Southeastern Louisiana competed at the Division II or NAIA levels. However, the Lions were able to find some success at those levels. They went to the NAIA Tournament three times in five seasons during the early 1950s. In 1973, the Lions made their NCAA Tournament debut at the Division II level, reaching the Sweet 16. It wasn’t much, but it certainly showed that Southeastern Louisiana had the potential to be something special.

King of the Southland

After the turn of the century, after previously making the jump to the Division I level, Southeastern Louisiana started to move its way up the pecking order in the Southland. Under head coach Billy Kennedy, the Lions won a share of the Southland regular-season title in both 2004 and 2005. In 2005, the Lions also won the Southland Tournament, reaching the NCAA Tournament at the Division I level for the first time in program history. Despite failing to immediately build on that success, the Lions found their way back to the top of the Southland hierarchy, winning a regular-season title again in 2018, earning a trip to the NIT in the process. Ever since, the Lions have been one of the top contenders in the Southland, becoming a mid-major that’s on the rise.