It's always a fun time when March Madness comes around for college basketball. It's one of Robbies favorite times of the year, so when the location of the Big Ten Tournament was released, we were happy to see it was in Indianapolis, only 2 hours away from Cincinnati! We decided to make a vacation out of it and stay in Indy the whole time. We also bought an all-tournament pass!
We got to Indy on Wednesday evening, just in time to see the first game tip off at 6pm, Northwestern vs Nebraska. I was a big Northwestetn fan for this game for two reasons: 1) Nebraska beat Wisconsin on the last game of the season in horrible fashion and 2) one of the Nebraska players took our star player, Johnny Davis, out of the game intentionally. That Nebraska player got a flagrant 2 which meant he was ejected from the game, but Johnny Davis remained out for the remainder of the game with bottom leg soreness which turned out to be a sprained ankle. There was little said on if/when he'd return, but more on that later. Needless to say, Northwestern won by a score of 71-69. It was close, but no cigar for Nebraska!
The following game was Minnesota vs Penn St. I've never liked Penn State, but then again, growing up so close to Minnesota my whole life, I've never liked them either. I was just cheering for a fun game! And it was, but Penn St. edged Minnesota with a score of 60-51. We also met a Gopher fan that first night who was there with an Iowa fan. They too had an all-tournament pass and they were sitting right behind us, so we saw them every day!
On Thursday there were 4 games, so I settled in for them all! Robbie had to work on Thursday and Friday from the hotel, so he missed a few games during the day portions. The first matchup was between Michigan and Indiana. This game was very personal to me, and I'll tell you why. On February 20th, Michigan played Wisconsin at the Kohl Center in Madison. The Badgers were routing Michigan, so our coach, Greg Gard, put in his bench players who never get a chance to play. He subbed them in with like, :15 remaining in the game, with the Badgers up by more than 10. Gard had a timeout to burn, and he used it as a teaching moment for the bench players on what they'd be doing on the inbounds. Michigan's coach, Juwan Howard did not like the timeout call so late in the game when the Badgers were up by so many. So, after the game in the handshake line, as Gard approached Howard, Gard went to try and explain the reason for the TO, but Howard wasn't having it. Howard got up in Gards face, grabbing a handful of his shirt and putting a finger in his face. Naturally, chaos ensued, and Howard ended up full out punching one of the Badgers assistant coaches in the head! Howard ended up getting a 5 game suspension and a $40,000 fine (the biggest punishment ever given out by the Big Ten). So whenever and whoever Michigan was playing in the tournament, it was going to be a tense one for me. Luckily the only way the Badgers were going to play them was in the Championship game if either of us made it that far.
Anyway, the game started and Michigan got off to a big lead, leading by 13 at half time to Indiana. Mind you, this tournament was being played in Indiana, so the majority of fans were Hoosiers, a welcoming sight for me! I might also add that our seats for the whole tournament were right behind one of the bands. We didn't know which band we would get in front of us until gametime, and this time, it happened to be Michigan's. Their band was out of control, taunting the crowd because they were up by so much. Well, after halftime, Indiana went on a big run, and at one point, Michigan hadn't scored in 7 whole minutes from the field! When Indiana tied the game, Michigan fans were singing a much different tune, and the band was super quiet! The Hoosiers ended up winning 74-69, and it was the best game I've ever seen live. Karma truly does come around, and it did that day for their coach! I watched Howard carefully when they were shaking hands, and it looked like he was careful in shaking hands and half-hugging every single person. Lol! Robbie also told me that the cameras were following him in the handshake line, too! Haha!
It was going to be hard to top the Michigan/Indiana game, but 25 minutes later, it was Iowas turn to play Northwesten, who was coming off their win the night before. Iowa has some good shooters on their team, and they love to chuck it from behind the 3, so I knew I was in for a treat. Iowa took off from the start, and it was just too much for Northwestern. Iowa was making 3s after 3s!
Robbie texted me that the record for 3-pointers in the tournament was 14, and Iowa was close. I kept track, and they blew that record out of the water, ending the day with 19 made 3s! I couldn't believe it, and I couldn't believe I was there to see it happen live! I was able to get a picture of the record tying, and the record breaking shots, and they are below!
Iowa ended up winning this game 112-76. Northwestern put up a pretty good fight. The Wildcats are always a bottom-feeder in the conference, but they take it with grace. We were behind the Northwestern band both games and they were nothing but positive, even when Iowa had them doubled up most of the game.
After the Iowa/Northwestern game, everyone had to clear out of the arena, so I went back to the hotel to relax and tell Robbie of my first-hand experience for both of the morning session games!
The first night session game saw Michigan St vs Maryland. This was a big game for two reasons also: 1) whoever won this game was who the Badgers would play the following night, and 2) seeing Maryland in this game rounded out our live viewing of each Big Ten team! There was nothing big to note in this game, and Michigan State ended up beating Maryland 76-72! It was determined, the Badgers would be playing Michigan State in 24 hours!
The last game of the night was Penn State vs. Ohio State. I've never liked Ohio State, and it's hard sometimes living where we do, having to endure the Buckeyes, thinking they own the conference. Sure, that might be true in football, but basketball is a different story! I didn't think Penn State had a chance, but they ended up winning in a close game, 71-68! Earlier this season, we were to an Ohio St vs Wisconsin game in Columbus, and it was awful how some of their fans were, so it's fun to have watched them lose to a far inferior team! I couldn't help but think about the guy sitting next to me at that game in Columbus who though EJ Liddell was the sh*t and thought the number of rebounds was the best Stat there was in basketball! Ha!
On Friday, we fueled up with room service before another full day of Big Ten hoops, the Quarterfinals! Illinois, Rutgers, Wisconsin, and Purdue all earned double-byes, so friday was the first time all 4 of these teams would play. The first game of the day was Illinois vs Indiana. Robbie was really sad he couldn't watch this game because Illinois has a guy on their team who is near 7' tall and close to 300lbs. His name is Kofi Cockburn, and let me tell you, he is MUCH bigger in person than he is on TV, especially when I was only a few feet from him. I'd love to stand next to him for comparisons sake! Robbie was really hoping Illinois would win so he could see Kofi the next day in person. I was hoping Indiana would win just for the upset. Once again, the crowd was loud, but Illinois fans held their own too! The game was close the whole time, and Indiana pulled off the upset, with a score of 65-63! I took a bunch of pictures of Kofi for Robbie to see. Who knows, maybe we will go to Champaigne to see a game next season!
The second game of the day was Iowa vs Rutgers. I had to stop and think when Rutgers played previously in this tournament; I'm not used to them getting a double-bye! To me, they always seem like a team who plays on the first day, lol! Iowa handled Rutgers well, but this time, they didn't score a million 3-pointers! Iowa ended up winning by 10 with a score of 84-74. I must say, though, that Rutgers band was the worst of them all! Most of the bands were loud and had cheers that they would do; I get it, it is a college band and they have a lot of school pride. But the Rutgers band was too pre-occupied with getting their cheers in that they weren't even watching the game. Their band designated one person to lead the cheers, and it was on every single possession, both offense and defense! At one particular point in the game, Rutgers was on offense, and the bands "cheer leader" was relaying the cheer that they would be doing. Well, Iowa had just stolen the ball and the band didn't even realize it because they were too worried about their cheers. I loved pep band in college, but I would've hated being a part of Rutgers pep band!
It was finally time for Wisconsin to play! I felt like I'd been waiting too long for the Badgers to take the floor, and the time had come! Once again, they were taking on Michigan State. I feel like we always get pitted against each other in this tournament. When we were at the 2019 tournament, the Badgers played Michigan State in their first game and lost. Also in 2015 (the Badgers magical Final Four year) Michigan State took the Badgers to overtime, but the Badgers prevailed! I hate playing them down the stretch! Their coach, Tom Izzo, is a legend, and Greg Gard pales in comparison. I knew the Badgers would have to bring their A game. We were one of the first ones in the arena so we got right to our seats.
One of the reasons we got such good seats is because we felt like we had a personal connection to the Badgers this season. When we were at the Maui Invitational in November in Vegas, we were able to interact with several players, so we felt like a few of them would recognize us, and they did! One of the seniors and bench players who we got to know the most in Vegas was Carter Higginbottom. As soon as he took the court, Robbie got his attention and Carter knew exactly that it was us! That was a fun moment!
We also realized quickly that Johnny Davis was suited up to play, which was a good sign! Another thing we noticed right away was Chucky Hepburns hair. Chucky is a freshman and from the beginning if the year, he always had a brown spot of hair in the front of his head (the rest of his hair was black) to start the year. Towards the middle of the season, he dyed that spot of hair black. When he came out for this game, that spot of hair was red! Pretty cool!
After warm-ups, the Badger Band (who was sadly on the other end of the court) played the National Anthem, and the ball was tipped! Michigan State held serve for pretty much the whole first half, but it was always just a one or two possession game. The Badgers could never get over that hump. It was also pretty clear that Johnny Davis was not playing to his full potential. Either it was because he was saving most of his energy for the NCAA Tournament, or that he was still hurt from the Nebraska game. It was frustrating also that he was getting mauled under the hoop and not getting fouls called. From where we were sitting, we could see it point blank that the Michigan State double-team had their hands all up on Davis and not a single whistle. Davis has had to face that adversity for a good chunk of the season, but on this day we could see he was visibly angry, which was warranted. The second half of the game, the Badgers made a comeback. Our red headed freshman made a few back-to-back 3s, but it ultimately wasn't enough as Michigan State ended up winning 69-63. It was a great effort, but it looked like the Badgers were defeated the whole game. Our 5th year senior, Brad Davison fouled out in the 2nd half also. It was sad to watch him leave the court. This game was his last Big Ten game ever, and although his career has been a Rollercoaster, you can tell he just loves the game so much and put his whole heart into each minute he played. And to top it off, the Michigan State fans were terrible about Davison fouling out, they were awful when we lost; it just wasn't a good look on them. Up until this point, the fans had been really gracious, even to the losing team, so I'm not sure what it was about this game. A few members of the MSU band were heckling Robbie and I because we were the only few Wisconsin fans in our section. So after the game and as they were leaving I just told them good luck with Purdue tomorrow night, and we will be right here watching. (Purdue hadn't played yet, but they were playing a much worse team and I knew they were advancing anyway). It was a sad ending and it took me a while to recover. The Badgers worked hard to get to this point for a spoiler of a game.
The last game of Friday's Quarterfinal was Purdue vs Penn State. Purdue has a scrawny 7' player who just lives under the hoop for a good tip in or rebound. He's been a thorn in everyone's side when they try to defend him, so Penn State didn't stand a chance. Purdue ended up being too much for Penn State, winning 69-61. The score was closer than the game actually was.
The 2 semi-final games were on Saturday. The first game was Iowa vs Indiana, and the second game was MSU vs Purdue. Before the games, Robbie thought it was going to be a Purdue vs Indiana championship game. If that was the case, both Indiana Big Ten teams would be playing in their home state for the trophy. I'm sure a lot of fans were hoping for that, too!
Iowa and Indiana was a fuuuun game! Indiana held their own against Iowa's big men, and Indianas offense was on that night, as was Iowas! It all came down to the final shot! The game was tied and Iowa had possession of the ball with around 11 seconds left in the game. Iowa brought the ball down court but couldn't find a shot, so one of their big scorers, Jordan Bohannon (who's brother Zack played for Wisconsin a few years back) shot up a prayer from between the 3-point line and half court. And it went in!! The arena erupted! It was one of the coolest sports moment I've seen in person as far as last second plays go! I couldn't believe it! That game-winner is going to be shown for years to come when it's tournament time! After that shot, there was 1.1 seconds remaining, not enough time for Indiana to get a shot off! Iowa won in absolute spectacular fashion!
It was onto the last semi-final, Michigan State vs Purdue. Unfortunately the MSU band was in front of us again, and I noticed that one of the trumpet players, the biggest heckling instigator the night before, was nowhere near us for this game. Funny. Michigan State kept it close with Purdue most of the game, but down the stretch, 2 MSU players got in foul trouble and eventually both fouled out. I was a little louder than I should've been after that happened, just to stick it to their fans for getting all over Davison the night before. The more satisfying thing was that one of their players who fouled out was Joey Hauser who initially committed to the Badgers (he and his twin brother grew up in WI), then transferred at the last minute, so I felt vindicated at that moment! Tom Izzo's Spartans eventually conceded and started fouling down the stretch and it was only a matter of time before Izzo waved it off and the clock struck zero! MSU lost 75-70, and I was happy! I'm sure their fans weren't, though.
These games got over early being their wasn't a night wave, so we went to go find food. Near our hotel was a series of skyways with shops lining it, much like a mall. We happened to stumble on one that had a mural in the front that caught our eye. The canvas was of Christain Yelich, Aaron Rodgers, and Giannis Antetokounmpo all with their arms around each other. These 3 players are clear Wisconsin royalty, each earning MVP in their sport. So we had to buy it! After looking around more, we also found a cool 3D design of Miller Park, so we bought that, too! Unexpected, but we couldn't pass them up!
Sunday was the big championship game! Being we had to check out by noon and the game wasn't until 3:30, we decided to get lunch. Unbeknownst to us until the night before, there was a Giordano's pizza place right around the corner from our hotel, so we had to eat there. After we sat down, a group of young Iowa fans sat behind us. It turns out they were part of the Iowa band! It wad fun for Robbie and I to talk with fellow band geeks. The ones that were there to eat all played saxophone, except for one gal who played the piccolo.
After lunch, we headed right to the arena because there was nothing else to do. Luckily the gates had already opened and we were able to get right in and to our seats. We still had an hour to wait until tip, but that was cool by us.
There was a lot of buzz in the arena for this game. Most of the crowd were fans of Purdue. Purdue University is only about 45 minutes north of Indianapolis, so they were well-represented. We, however, were Iowa fans. It was going to be an interesting match-up because Iowa likes to shoot 3s, and Purdues 7' giant likes to hang out under the hoop. We were anxious to see how Purdue was going to adjust. A lot of people wanted their picture with this man, Robbie Hummel. He is a Purdue basketball alum. He played in the early 2010s and was a thorn in my side as a Badger fan. He now does commentary for the Big Ten.
After tip-off, the pace felt fast, for my Badger standards, but I liked it. I was hoping for a good final game, and I got it! There was lots of scoring, but Iowa was cold from beyond the arc, so that allowed the 7' giant to put his big skills to use! I couldn't believe how quick this game was moving. All the sudden, it was halftime! It was much of the same in the 2nd half; Purdue kept it close. But then as time dwindled, Iowa put the hammer down and wouldn't let up. At about the 1:30 mark, Purdue fouled and it was all over.
Props to both teams for a great final! The best 2 teams from the B1G were in the Championship game, and that's the way its supposed to be! When all was said and done, I attended each of the 13 games, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way!
One other great aspect of the tournament was the halftime entertainment:
Indianapolis did a wonderful job hosting this tournament, and I give it a solid 10/10! On our way back home, I drove while Robbie watched Selection Sunday on his phone. The Badgers ended up getting a 3 seed and they play Colgate on Friday. As the 68 teams were rounded out, the The Big Ten conference had the most teams represented, with 9 out of 14! Best of luck to all teams in the Big Dance!
