@Indiana -- Advice? Anyone else going?

I live about an hour northwest.

Heading down Saturday morning.

If you are coming down Friday night, stop in Greenwood (about 40 minutes north of Bloomington) and watch future Wolverine Brandon Peters play in the Class 6A semi final against Indiana's #1 ranked team in Center Grove. Kickoff is 7pm.

Budget a bit of extra time as it seems everything south of Indy (37/65) is under construction.

No advice on where to stay or what your budget is but it looks like a beautiful day for football.

Also, Brian from the MGO Tailgate should post details soon should you need some company Saturday. Always a good time.

I'm flying into Indianapolis Saturday morning and drivng from there. I think that's the closest airport to campus - I've never been. Going to stay at the cheapest/best rated Tripadvisor hotel anywhere between Bloomington and Indianapolis. I'll wait until the last minute to buy my game ticket - seems like the offical Indiana Athletic site has a bunch available for face. 

Advice: don't order sushi at a diner

driving 5-1/2 hours and hopefully arrive at IU by noon for some tailgating. We went in '10 and are aware of the horrendous traffic. Last time we tailgated on the north side of the stadium and it was ok ... wondering if there's a better area. 

Getting out of town was a nightmare, too. I think we ended up getting routed to the east out of town and had to drive forever on 2-lane state roads until we found I-65. We were driving all the way back to Michigan that night, but this time we're going to get a hotel in Indianapolis. So we'll probably just hang around for a while after the game to let traffic disperse a bit.

So, how long do they let you keep your car parked in the tailgating lots, and if you're allowed to stay there for a while can you walk over to any nearby bars, or aren't they in walking distance?

Go Blue! 

Anyone know what the visitors sections are?

Here's some suggestions if looking for some meals on your way up or down 69

If you're headed down the morning of the game and want a local diner to get good, cheap breakfast, take exit 234 to State Rd 32  about 10 minutes East to get to Osborn's in Yorktown.  

If you're coming down the day before or on your way back up North you could take exit 259 near Taylor University to go to Ivanhoe's. They have a gigantic menu, but the fried chicken sandwich is ambrosia. Their claim to fame is that they've got about a billion ice cream flavors. This place is always packed, so expect to wait for a table.

If you're looking for BBQ and a much more laid back atmosphere than Ivanhoe's, there's a great place also on exit 234 right off the interstate in Daleville called Bird's.  Great brisket and corn casserole.

Definitely thinking about heading down, especially since there are $10 tickets for the kids.

One spot I'd recommend for dinner/drinks is Upland Brewery.  It's one of the largest microbrews in Indiana, and their food menu is real solid as well.  If you're into sour beers, they're actually nationally renowned for sours, although they have plenty of other good offerings.

You can't go wrong with Nick's for post-game drinking.  As previously mentioned, they have a table game you can rent from the bar called "sink the biz" in which you basically pour beer into a cup floating in a bucket of beer and the person who sinks it has to drink the cup.  One "house rule" with groups Ive played with is if you sink the cup and you're the one who started the round you have to drink the bucket (not fun).  Good game to celebrate a W with.  There are other bars near Nick's, including Kilroy's and Upstairs, which are fun.  Some of the less "college-ey" bars are Crazy Horse and the Tap (awesome beer selection).

If you get to Bloomington early and you're into college campuses, I'd dedicate some time to just walking through campus.  It's one of the prettiest college campuses anywhere.

I know that I would rather have the better defense than the better offense I just hope this D is going to play to their capabilities. I agree with Zordich when he said the defense  "laid an egg" against Minny. We escaped with the win but I would not try that against this group. They love their offense and they play it very well to the point of being the best in the B1G. They have played Ohio State and Michigan State and gave both these teams a run for their money. Both sides of the ball need to come to play......here's to hopin they do..... Go Blue!

I'm an MD/PhD student here, which means I got my tickets for $10(!!) each and have some personal insight about the town and gameday:

The tailgating scene, especially on the grass lots south of the stadium (across 17th street) is surprisingly full/enthusiastic. And yet most participants flee home rather than to the game before kickoff. It's weird. If the stadium fills it's only because Michigan fans showed up in force.

As for Bloomington, the town is rich in good food. Upland is a great brewery. I'd also recommend BBC. That one is housed within a restaurant named Lennie's.

I think the very best night food in town is an honor wrestled over between (1) Feast, (2) Farm, (3) Uptown, and (4) Malibu Grill. For breakfast, you'll be impressed with (5) Runcible Spoon in addition to numbers (1) and (3) above.

The campus is gorgeous. Imagine a version of The Arb that is doubly large and littered with limestone monoliths (IU has a real fascination with limestone). Lots of streams; countless trees, bridges, and tucked away passages. Ann Arbor and Michigan get all the trappings of being my first and favorite but I really love it here, too.

1) Games are pretty laid back and the natives are friendly even if you win.  

2) Leave extra extra extra time getting down from Indy as the highway is being changed from a state road to Interstate 69 and is down to a single lane in either direction in some place. My back route into town (take the North Walnut exit, left at the first light, right onto Dunn) did NOT work last time, as they had blocked off the interaction of Dunn and Bypass near the stadium.

3) It is also a notorious speed trap so watch yourself.

4) They are pretty good about policing underage drinking and don't fight in a bar afterwards :)

5) Parking I don't know - if you are parking anywhere near downtown and can take a 20-25 minute walk you don't have to be super near the stadium.

6) Upland is an awesome brewpub although everything will be jammed up after the game.  At least you don't have to worry about a Hoosier throwing a punch at you; they are resigned to their fate.

 

When I went in 2010 getting out was a nightmare. We didn't move for an hour and a half. We had to park close to the stadium. 

I will be there....

so, I'm really looking forward to it.  Several people around us in section 13 are going to be there.  Right now, we're planning on tailgating in the lot to the north of the stadium.  We're staying in a hotel horth of Columbus on I-65.  At this point, trying to find a hotel in the Bloomington area is going to be hard.  

Let's have a maize and blue memorial stadium

I'll be there, lots of great places to go in Bloomington. The Bluebird is always cool, The Tap good food and IPAs, Bub's Burgers.

Only time I could get off work to see a game! Excited to see the Harbaugh coached Wolverines. I will visit family in Evansville on Friday and found a much cheaper hotel just north of Evansville. I'll look for some UM tailgaters. Hopefully much of the stadium will be maize and blue! I plan on wearing my maize Michigan sweat shirt. Weather looks nice with highs in the lower 50s at the 3:30 PM Kickoff! After the game I will drive up to Michigan to spend the week with family up there!

If any Mgobloggers have not been down to IU in a couple of years, you might be unaware that US 24 has now opened from Toledo to Ft Wayne.  It's empty of traffic and saves me on average about 25 minutes from Ann Arbor.  Take 23 south to Toledo, 24 west from Exit 4 (I believe) all the way to I469 south (ring road around the east side of Ft Wayne), then join i69 and proceed the "old" way.

Not much to eat on that part of the route but anything that takes a 25 minute seam out of Northern Indiana is fine by me.