Report: Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament to be played exclusively in Indianapolis(surrounding metro area)
ESPN is reporting that March Madness will have one location this year. All games will be played in and around Indianapolis to restrict travel for teams.
If they did allow fans(highly doubt it), it would be a huge advantage for B1G teams.
November 16th, 2020 at 12:39 PM ^
I’m sure there won’t be fans, but thrilled that it sounds like it will actually happen.
November 16th, 2020 at 12:42 PM ^
You could play at local high schools if there are no fans to fill the seats.
November 16th, 2020 at 1:32 PM ^
Probably not, unless you are going to strip the courts, move the baskets and paint new lines in each gym.
November 16th, 2020 at 2:32 PM ^
Hick-o-reeee!!!!!!!
November 16th, 2020 at 12:43 PM ^
MARCH MADNESS BUBBLE!?!
November 16th, 2020 at 12:52 PM ^
They should just play the whole thing at Hinkle Fieldhouse then.
November 16th, 2020 at 12:53 PM ^
Wish they adopted this strategy every year (Minneapolis, Detroit, Boston, or Denver) for the NCAA hockey tourney instead of tapping hockey hotbeds like Allentown, PA.
November 16th, 2020 at 1:06 PM ^
It’s cool for the players families but probably doesn’t matter since zero chance of fans attending. Even with a vaccine that works perfectly there’s no way it would be safe to congregate that soon
November 16th, 2020 at 1:39 PM ^
If things go according to plan, most of the country (those who aren't anti-vaxxers) could be vaccinated with one of the promising vaccines that have been announced recently by the time the Tourney starts... so having at least some fans in the arenas, if not full capacity, is still a possibility. I'm sure you will laugh at me for saying that, but I'd rather be an optimist than a pessimist.
November 16th, 2020 at 4:22 PM ^
And at the rate we're going, the entire country will have had COVID by March anyway, so we're good.
November 17th, 2020 at 9:31 AM ^
The words you were looking for in your last sentence include rational vs irrational and ignorant vs informed. Seriously, these are the appropriate terms, here. Not by March.
I know there are four college courts in Indy and several more inside of an hours drive.
November 16th, 2020 at 1:42 PM ^
I want to go and I promise to wear my mask correctly. No nose hard ons here.
November 16th, 2020 at 2:06 PM ^
I'm just wondering if one location would actually be better.
Even without fans, congregating all the coaches, staffs, players, support people from close to 70 teams seems ill-advised.
Teams from the south and west would actually have to travel a long way. Why not split it into 4 regional places where 16 teams each participate till the Final 4?
November 16th, 2020 at 2:22 PM ^
One location Indianapolis
At least four separate venues I’d guess - Lucas Oil Stadium, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse and IUPUI - maybe more
November 16th, 2020 at 2:43 PM ^
Wasn't there some crazy proposal in recent years to have some pre-season tournament where 4 games were going on at once underneath the same dome?
MSU (no surprise) was involved in that proposal, as I recall.
I suppose it's not impossible they'd consider that too.
November 16th, 2020 at 3:47 PM ^
U of Indianapolis and Marian U are other venues, although two floors in Lucas Oil probably would be easier.
I wonder why they wouldn't just add Ball State, Purdue, and IU. An hour-long bus ride isn't a problem for the teams, but I'm not sure how the virus plays into that.
November 16th, 2020 at 2:46 PM ^
Well, in the big picture this represents the culmination of the entire 12-month sporting cycle having been affected, being that the college basketball tournaments were the first sporting events to be touched earlier this year.
That March Madness 2021 is already adjusted because of the pandemic officially sends us into our 2nd sporting cycle filled with asterisks.
November 16th, 2020 at 2:55 PM ^
The general thought with the vaccines is mass vaccinations in April through July. Should be interesting. We'll see what actually happens.
November 16th, 2020 at 4:53 PM ^
I figured there would be 5, but if they can make it work, this would be better. Just hope the support facilities can handle a good in camera coverage of the games.
November 16th, 2020 at 6:39 PM ^
Can't wait to see one of the dreaded 5-12 matchups in....Anderson? Do the have a civic arena?
November 17th, 2020 at 8:14 AM ^
The Anderson Wigwam! One of the largest HS gyms in the country! It seated 9,000 fans. Very tough place to get a ticket back in the 80's. It was being redeveloped, but I believe they were keeping the gym.
November 17th, 2020 at 9:56 AM ^
There are many 7 to 10 thousand capacity HS gymnasiums in Indiana. Loogootee, town of about 2500 has a 5000 capacity gymnasium-and it is often standing room only.
November 16th, 2020 at 8:12 PM ^
Cannot wait for this Covid stuff to be OVER with sick of how it's impacting our society
November 17th, 2020 at 7:58 AM ^
They should do like Gus Maker back in the 90s - take over the largest EMU parking lot, put some tape down on uneven concrete, and play all games at the same time.
I'd definitely watch.
November 18th, 2020 at 1:08 AM ^
Extra commentary from Chuck Barkley? Count me in!