Women’s College Basketball Player Mocks Hilariously Underwhelming NAIA Sweet 16 Swag Bag Including Fast Food Menu

As the college basketball season comes to a close, it’s tournament time. Not only is March Madness underway for both the men and women, as are the D-II, D-III, NIT, CBI and NAIA Tournaments.

For the athletes, not only does tournament season mean travel, it also means swag. The extent of that swag, though, varies by level of play.

Here is an example of what the men received at March Madness in 2021:

Here’s the welcome-to-Indy team swag starter set teams are getting from the NCAA upon arrival.

Blanket, towels, puzzle, socks, @jessewashington’s John Thompson book (love that), copious amounts of soaps, hand sanitizer, deodorants and, of course, Axe pomade. pic.twitter.com/rQgfCUDkVI

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 14, 2021

Here is an example of what the women received at March Madness in 2023:

March Madness Swag Bag ✅

Thank you, @NCAA @MarchMadnessWBB! pic.twitter.com/zxvGSCmRuv

— Saint Louis WBB (@SaintLouisWBB) March 17, 2023

It is not quite as exciting for the lower-level tournaments, as demonstrated by the Thomas More women’s basketball team. The Saints competed in the NAIA Sweet Sixteen in Sioux Falls over the weekend.

Their swag bag is NOT like March Madness.

The swag bag for which they were gifted is… uh… downright terrible!

Obviously, the NAIA doesn’t have the same budget as the NCAA for March Madness, but goodness gracious… at what point is the swag bag actually less exciting than no bag at all? Outside of the beanie, and the actual bag in which the “swag” came in, this NAIA gift is about as close as it gets.

NAIA Sweet Sixteen participants in Sioux Falls received a tiny backpack. Inside was the following:

• Sioux City traveler’s guide, something that can probably be picked up at the local grocery store.
• Jimmy John’s menu, without any coupons.
• Stress ball, like something you would find at a dentist’s office or marketing fair.
• Buttered popcorn, one pack. Literally just one pack of buttered popcorn.
• Chocolate covered cherries, which is apparently a Sioux Falls thing. No hate here!
• Mints. MINTS?!
• Sioux City beanie, the saving grace of the swag bag.

@sammiwhiteman

naia providing the essentials for the national tournament. thoughts @sedonerrr? #siouxcity #marchmadness #naia

♬ original sound – sammiwhiteman

The bag itself is cool, but what’s the purpose of a backpack that small? What would you even carry in it? Certainly not school books or a laptop.

The chocolate-covered cherries are a nice, local touch, but the bag is smaller than airplane peanuts. Even the beanie, as crucial as it is to the overall swag bag value, begs the question of when it would be worn outside of the time spent in Sioux Falls.

Again, it’s the NAIA. The bar isn’t super high for swag bags, like it is for March Madness. But the Jimmy John’s menu, really?!