LSU Basketball’s NCAA Tournament experience has been very unique so far

The NCAA Tournament is very different this year than it has been in past years — thanks to COVID-19 — but LSU basketball is just happy to be along for the ride.

The Tigers are a No. 8 seed in the tourney. They’ll take on the St. Bonaventure Bonnies on Saturday at 12:45 PM CT/1:45 PM ET at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana.

Because of COVID-19, teams were forced to quarantine upon arrival at their hotels, which certainly makes for a “different” NCAA Tournament experience.

But Will Wade and his team won’t be complaining.

“The bubble, it’s been different,” said Wade this week (via 247Sports). “Certainly, it’s a different NCAA experience, but you’re not going to hear any complaining from LSU. We’re excited to be here.”

LSU basketball hasn’t even returned to Baton Rouge since the SEC Tournament

Perhaps the strangest thing about LSU’s tournament experience so far is the fact that the Tigers haven’t been to Baton Rouge since before the SEC Tournament.

LSU went straight from Nashville to Indiana so they could quarantine before the start of the NCAA Tournament.

“We left last Wednesday for the SEC tournament and we never came back to Baton Rouge,” said Wade. “So by the time we tip off on Saturday, we’ll be gone 10 days. But we told our guys to pack for that and our managers have been doing laundry for us and that sort of thing.”

The Tigers prepared well for the long trip — specifically by bringing their gaming systems along.

“I know at least three of them brought their video game systems with their headsets and how they hook those up to the TVs and all that I have no clue,” said Wade.

And if anyone forgets anything, there’s always Amazon to bail them out.

But according to Wade, no one’s had to venture too far down that road.

“I don’t think anybody’s had to order anything too special on Amazon,” joked Wade.

It’s certainly a different experience for everyone this year. But after having to do without the NCAA Tournament last year, I think everyone is just thrilled to have March Madness back — regardless of how different the experience will be.