2021 Year in Review: Entire NCAA tourney rolls into Indy area
Indiana took on one of the most gargantuan events in its history this year, playing host to all 68 teams and thousands of spectators for the entire NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
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NCAA not considering bubble for this year’s basketball tournament
NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt told NCAA.com that the tournament was slated to go on in the normal format and there has been no discussion of playing in a bubble like last season.
ESPN has $400M in college football playoff ads at risk from COVID
The national spike in COVID-19 cases imperils hundreds of millions of dollars in college football playoff advertising for Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN sports network because of the growing risk games might be canceled, Bloomberg Intelligence estimated in a note Tuesday.
COVID outbreaks taking toll on college football bowls
The Fenway Bowl and Military Bowl were both canceled due to the pandemic on Sunday, and the University of Miami withdrew from the Sun Bowl.
Mark Montieth: Marian point guard shows how to navigate motherhood as a college athlete
Marian University’s starting point guard Abby Downard played through last season’s pregnancy before giving birth to a son, Jaxon, on July 30. Now she’s back on the court, juggling motherhood with the help of her teammates and family.
Football title game, big events could bring tourism recovery for Indy in 2022
Indianapolis tourism officials say the city’s convention and events business should be almost fully recovered by the end of 2022—at least based on projections for attendance and economic impact.
COVID surge leads to contingency plans for football championship game in Indy
If a new surge of COVID-19 ends up spreading wildly through college football’s top teams, a contingency plan would allow a champion to be crowned without the championship game ever being played in Indianapolis on Jan. 10 as planned.
Mark Montieth: Remembering an outlandish IU performance
Fifty years ago, IU’s John Ritter scored a career-high 31 points. And he outscored the opposing team all by himself.
College football title game is also helping Indiana educators, students
When the College Football Playoff National Championship visits a new city, the game’s philanthropic arm, the College Football Playoff Foundation, makes a legacy investment in local teachers.
Mike Lopresti: Purdue’s No. 1 ranking now doesn’t mean much in March
Only two No. 1 teams in the final Associated Press poll in the past 25 NCAA Tournaments have ended up national champions—Kentucky in 2012 and Duke in 2001. Only four of the past 12 even advanced to the Final Four.
Sports: Hinkle, Wooden recruited in a bygone era
Wouldn’t it be nice if today’s college coaches had the luxury of doing recruiting as it was done by two of Indiana’s greatest coaching icons, Tony Hinkle and Johnny Wooden? Which basically was to sit back, throw out a few lines and wait to see who bites without having to beg or bend a truth?
Notre Dame set to promote Kelly assistant to head football coach
Defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman would become the second Black head football coach at Notre Dame after Tyrone Willingham (2002-04).
LSU, Kelly agree to 10-year contract worth at least $95M
The hiring of Brian Kelly—who has led Notre Dame for the past 12 seasons and eclipsed Knute Rockne for career victories with the storied Fighting Irish—was formally announced Tuesday in yet another blockbuster coaching move in college football.
LSU hires football coach Kelly away from Notre Dame
Brian Kelly became the winningest coach in Notre Dame history earlier this season, surpassing Knute Rockne. No previous head football coach has ever left the Irish to take a job at another school.
Sports conferences ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 launch mental health initiative
Teammates for Mental Health will be unveiled this week during basketball games involving the three conferences, including the ACC/Big Ten women’s and men’s challenges.
Don Shondell, longtime BSU men’s volleyball coach, dies at 92
Shondell, who coached the Ball State University men’s volleyball team to 13 NCAA tournament appearances, was frequently referred to as the father of Indiana volleyball. He coached the Ball State team for 34 years and saw dozens of his players go into the coaching ranks.
Sports: IU football’s skid to the end of a rocky road
The Old Oaken Bucket rivalry will be rekindled this year, and in Indiana’s case, it will be one last chance to find shelter from the Category 5 hurricane this season has become.
Sports: These Jaguars are on the hunt for redemption
Gaze around the state of Indiana landscape in Division I basketball. Find the one and only program voted to win its league this season.
Emmert: NCAA’s restructuring efforts not motivated by fear
NCAA President Mark Emmert’s words came after the NCAA’s online constitutional convention, during which the entire membership of more than 1,100 schools in three divisions weighed in on the proposed, scaled-down version of the association’s foundational document.
Here’s what new NCAA constitution means for college sports fans
On Monday, representatives of the full NCAA membership get the chance to weigh in during a specially called constitutional convention after being given a week to digest the 19-page document.