NASHVILLE, Tenn. – LSU Men's Basketball Coach Will Wade, senior Duop Reath and junior Brandon Sampson spent two-plus hours taking pictures, offering relevant social media thoughts and taking dozens of questions from local, regional and national media at the annual edition of the men’s basketball SEC Tipoff.

The event was held at the Omni Hotel and the lobby of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The coverage was carried live on the SEC Network and the Paul Finebaum show, the latter of which the three LSU attendees made an appearance on.

The Tigers were picked 14th in the league by the panel of media that was selected from each league city and here is how Coach Wade on one occasion answered the question regarding being chosen 14th in the league.

“It was about what we expected,” the first year Tiger mentor said. “We came in last place last year. We lost our leading scorer (Antonio Blakeney). If you are looking at us on paper and don’t follow us that closely, that’s a fair conclusion to make … It puts some perspective on why we work so hard. Why we are attentive to every little detail that we do. I think it gives our guys some perspective on what it will take to win and how difficult it will be for us to win …”

The Tigers open the 2017-18 regular season on Friday, Nov. 10, at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center against Alcorn State. The 7 p.m. game is the night before the LSU-Arkansas football game in Tiger Stadium. Tickets start at $1 for that game and are available at LSUtix.net.