Good Time at the Big Ten Basketball Tourney in Indy

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Since moving out of Ohio I don't get many chances to watch the Ohio State Buckeyes basketball or football team play in person. But last month my good friend Matt - who I went to high school and college with - called to tell me that he had an extra ticket to the B1G Basketball tournament that was being held in Indianapolis.

Matt and a group of friends from Columbus have gone to this tourney for several years, whether it's been in Indy or Chicago. And it seems that I always got a text or call after one of the awesome games, or from a bar, at some point in the day (or night). So with the opportunity presented, of course I said yes. 

I flew to Columbus, Ohio Wednesday, March 12 and stayed at Matt's. The next morning, Todd picked us up and then we picked up Shane and drove the three hours to Indianapolis. 

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The tourney is set up that there are two games in the first session (noon), a break, and then two games in the evening. If you lose, you're out. 

As the #5 see the Buckeyes played #12 Purdue on Thursday afternoon. It was a nail-biter, but Ohio State pulled it off.

We had some unfortunate news as the game ended when Shane got a horrible phone related to his dad. He had to make some extremely tough decisions for his family, and then knew he needed to get back to Ohio. He didn't want us to drive him back, so we helped him rent a car and the three of us went back for the evening games.

More games on Saturday, with Ohio State coming back from 20 down to beat Nebraska. This set up an OSU-Michigan semifinal on Saturday, and all Buckeye fans know that We Don't Give a Damn for the Whole State of Michigan, the whole state of..."

It was a close game, but the school up north won. The final was Sunday, with Michigan State beating Michigan. We drove back to Columbus and I returned to Denver on Monday morning.

Indy was a cool city, or at least the downtown area was, with a lively bar / restaurant scene and very welcoming to all the fans that visited that weekend. I also loved the tournament and hope I'm free to go back next year when it's back in Chicago.