The Texas Tech Red Raiders are heading to the NCAA Tournament and with the Basketball team heading to San Diego to face Montana State in the first round, that inevitably means that many Texas Tech fans will also be making the journey.

The Red Raiders and Bobcats will face off in the 13-3 matchup on Friday, March 18th, at 12:45 central time. You can watch the broadcast on TNT, but if you're heading to Viejas Arena in San Diego there are some things you need to know.

In Lubbock and most of Texas COVID-19 and its protocols are pretty much in afterthought territory. That's not the case in California and San Diego.

Viejas Arena is on the campus of San Diego State and the arena protocols sound more like 2021 than 2022 to this Texan.

First off, "In accordance with state and county guidelines, all guests age two and older are required to present either proof of a completed COVID-19 vaccine series or a negative COVID-19 test." So if you're heading to the games this weekend, be sure to have your papers ready.

If you opt for the negative test option, SDSU requires that that test be taken within a day of the event. This means if you go to both the Friday game and the potential game on Sunday, you'll need two negative tests in San Diego. If you opt for the vaccine status, be prepared to back that up with proof of identification.

So it doesn't seem like a scam, SDSU will generously offer antigen testing on-site, but you must pay and sign up for the test online and they cost $35. They'll also be selling personal COVID-19 test kits outside of Viejas Arena, so even if you buy tickets and get to San Diego there's no guarantee you'll be able to get in with a wonky test result.

Masks will be recommended but not required.

There's also a clear bag policy, but that's pretty standard in today's world.

You can read the entire list of protocols here.

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