March Madness this year will start in a Hall, shift quickly to an Arena, sweep through a pair of Fieldhouses – one modern and one antique – jump over to a Coliseum and wind up in a Stadium fit for a Super Bowl. When hosting the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in one region became a logistical necessity due to the forces beyond all of our control, there was only one place where it made both practical and nostalgic sense to do it. The state of Indiana treats basketball with deference, delight and passion. It loves the sport from deep in the heart and for the glorious return of an event that suffered COVID’s cruelest timing blow last year, it will wrap it up in affection. “Basketball in Indiana means something different to anywhere else,” said FOX Sports college basketball analyst Michael DeCourcy, who lives in Indianapolis. “The stories you hear about the state’s obsession with basketball – it’s all true. It permeates society at all levels.” As it unfolds, the tournament will take us on a journey of unpredictability and wonderment as always, with a field topped by Gonzaga and Baylor scrapping it out for the ultimate prize. It will also be an aesthetic adventure in itself, as fans sat on couches around the country will be visually transported through a series of special venues. Indiana’s basketball buildings have their own unique majesty and serve as a reminder of just what basketball means in the Hoosier State. Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse is creeping up on a century of existence and is still going strong, with a recent refurbishment having done nothing to take away the feel-good vibe. Indiana University’s Assembly Hall just turned 50. Indiana Farmers Coliseum pre-dates World War II. Their longevity is tied to a love for basketball. To tear them down would be sacrilege to all the moments that took place there, both notable and mundane. DeCourcy loves Hinkle and has a special deference, too, for Purdue’s Mackey Arena, where the Paint Crew, one of the best and boldest student sections in the sport typically create a wall of sound. Not so this time, which is one of the bitter ironies. Where hoops fans usually stand loudest and proudest, they won’t, at least not in any great number. “A few years ago the Indiana Pacers came up with an advertising slogan that also ties into the region’s agriculture,” DeCourcy added. “It said: ‘We Grow Basketball Here.’ It pretty much sums it up. That’s how it is. That’s how people feel about it.” There are comparisons to be made to Texas and its consumption of football at all levels. When the decision was made to bring the tournament to Indiana there were calls to play games in high school gyms, though the parameters of larger college court sizes made that a non-starter. In truth, the choice of Indiana had more to do with simplicity than romance. The next day or two before the games begin in earnest might be the ideal time to dust off that old copy of Hoosiers, yet in reality, with Indianapolis being the headquarters of the NCAA and the availability of so many sites, it just made too much sense. It is a sadness that there will only be one home state team in the field, Purdue, a No. 4 seed coming off a strong campaign in the stacked Big Ten. Notre Dame, Butler, Indiana State and Valparaiso all will look on from outside, as will Indiana, who recently parted ways with head coach Archie Miller after the Hoosiers failed to make the NCAA Tournament for a fourth straight year. Having every game in a tight geographical circle may evoke the same sort of positive notions that come from conference tournaments and has prompted a line of thought that this could be a method that should continue post-pandemic. “Question for college basketball: After nearly the entire Men’s NCAA Tournament is played in Indianapolis this year, should the whole thing be played here in another year? Or every year?” wrote David Woods in the Indianapolis Star. “Hey, if it works out you could try this again,” added FOX Sports’ Doug Gottlieb. “Everyone knows the best site for the Final Four is Indy.” For now, for most, it must be enjoyed from afar. The quality of the basketball and the drama of the narrative is what hooks so many, with upsets guaranteed and Cinderella getting her dancing slippers ready. Yet there is little point in pretending the location – and those buildings – don’t add something extra. If you like sports, if you like nostalgia and dwelling on the past, if you like architecture – heck, virtually all of us like something from the above list don’t we? – then we’re onto something here. There is the highlight of Hinkle, Butler’s home, a National Historic Landmark and where the decisive scenes of Hoosiers were filmed, all brick and steel and tangled beams, and yep – where the rims are 10 feet, just like home. You’ve got the triangular prisms of Assembly Hall, the circular equality of Mackey, and the no-nonsense yet still charming façade of Indiana Farmers Coliseum, where basketball mingles in with everything from pro hockey to presidential speeches and a ton of concerts. An increase in size and a jump into the modern doesn’t cost too much in terms of flavor. One of the best bits about visiting Bankers Life Fieldhouse for Pacers games is that the fans spill right in from the heart of the city and right back into it afterwards. Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Colts, will host two courts, though not at the same time. The venue’s Super Bowl moment came in 2012, when the New York Giants upset the New England Patriots for a second time in four years. Okay, enough already about football. It is March, it is Indiana, and the Madness is upon us. It is the right time for basketball – and the right place, too. Here’s what others have said … Matt Painter, Purdue Head Coach (On Mackey Arena): “When you consider what we hear from our opponents with how loud our fans can get. It’s one of those special places across the country that gives you a true advantage when you play a home game.” Quinn Buckner, former Indiana basketball standout (On Assembly Hall): “I knew it was difficult for other teams to come play [at Assembly Hall]. You can sense when people are uneasy being there, because they knew the fan base was rabid. In its truest sense of a fan, it was fanatical. It created a real positive effect for our team.” Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics (On Hinkle Fieldhouse): “Maybe history clouds judgement, but the 1928-opened Hinkle Fieldhouse boasts one of the most spectacular stages for college basketball… A venue on the National Register of Historic Places and a National Historic Landmark uses a brick façade, window-filled design, and unique stacked seating to embrace history.” |
