Indiana Basketball: The Crossroads Classic

The Crossroads Classic came to life in 2011. How have the Hoosiers performed since it began?

The Indiana basketball movement is in full swing this weekend as all four Indiana college basketball programs participate in this event that is held at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. This year the Indiana Hoosiers will square off against the Butler Bulldogs and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will face the Purdue Boilermakers.

For those who are not quite familiar with this annual contest. It started back in 2011. This was a reboot of a similar contest held in the 1940’s called the Hoosier Classic. Same four schools participated of course. The Hoosiers are a mediocre 4-3 since the rebirth of the mini-series. We all probably remember the No.1 Hoosiers losing to Butler in 2012.

This contest is pretty big for the state of Indiana and it is something we take pride in. We love our Indiana basketball. Whatever school you represent this is a fun way to buy a ticket to see all four schools go at it. Of course this isn’t tournament style of play. Basically, the teams alternate opponents year to year. Indiana doesn’t play Purdue in this series because we play them in the Big Ten annually.

This year should be another great installment as we will once again play Butler. The Hoosiers are finally ranked for the first time since 2016. We should expect them to handle a tough Butler team. After all we don’t want our boys to lose that ranking after playing hard to obtain it. The Hoosiers are on the rise and the whole NCAA has taken notice.

Is it just Hoosier bias, or is college basketball as a whole just a better brand to watch when IU has a competitive team? There’s just something about Indiana representing the sport as a whole. Sure, we have the Pacers, but the Hoosiers are just a different feel for all of us who grew up here.

So gather all of your friends and family and enjoy the Crossroads Classic this weekend.