LOCAL

IU preparing for big weekend in Bloomington with Hoosier Hysteria and Homecoming

Dustin Dopirak
Herald-Times

They're calling it "Monster Weekend" in the Indiana University athletic department, and they mean it in a good way.

For the first time in recent memory, Indiana will hold its Hoosier Hysteria basketball event marking the start of college basketball practice on the same weekend of its Homecoming football game with the events taking place within 18 hours of each other. Hoosier Hysteria will start at 7 p.m. on Friday night at Assembly Hall and will be immediately be followed by a concert there by platinum-selling rapper G Herbo, a Chicago native. Then on Saturday afternoon, the IU football team will play No. 4 Michigan in a game that will be carried nationally at noon on FOX.

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The Hoosiers men's and women's basketball programs are both expected to be ranked in the Top 25 when the polls are released later this month, so the 7 p.m. event at Assembly Hall Friday night will be one of the most anticipated of its kind in several years. The football game on Saturday will be less anticipated as the Hoosiers (3-2, 1-1 in the Big Ten) are three-touchdown underdogs to the Wolverines (5-0, 2-0), but the game is still expected to draw 47,000 and Memorial Stadium will host FOX's Big Noon Kickoff show behind the South End Zone near 17th Street.

An Indiana cheerleader is lifted high in front of a big crowd Oct. 16, 2021, during the Indiana-Michigan State football game at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.

Indiana has in year's past avoided having the two events together in part because of potential conflicts between Hoosier Hysteria and other Homecoming related events including the parade. However, this year Indiana simply decided to embrace the confluence of events and push for a particularly big crowd for Hoosier Hysteria.

The men's squad is coming off an NCAA Tournament berth in coach and former IU All-American Mike Woodson's first season and it returns three-time All-Big Ten pick Trayce Jackson-Davis as well as three other starters from last year's team. It also adds the nation's No. 9 ranked class of incoming freshmen including five-star guard Jalen Hood-Schifino. The women's team returns two All-Big Ten picks in Grace Berger and Mackenzie Holmes after reaching the Elite Eight in 2021 and the Sweet 16 last year.

"With this many returning players and people seemingly excited about the men's and women's teams, we do expect to have a bigger crowd than we've had in recent years," said Jeremy Gray, Indiana's senior associate athletic director for strategic communications.

Hoosier Hysteria will have somewhat of a conflict with Indiana's homecoming parade. That event begins at 5:30 p.m. on Friday evening at Gate 2 on 17th Street going west. It turns south on Woodlawn Avenue, then turns east on 13th Street, then north on Fee Lane, then heads west back to 17th Street and ends where it started at Gate 2.

What that means for basketball fans is that 17th Street will be blocked off leading up to Hoosier Hysteria and they are encouraged to turn into the IU athletic campus from the 45/46 Bypass.

Students may line up for entry to Assembly Hall for Hoosier Hysteria as early as noon on Friday, weather permitting, and will be allowed in at 5:45 p.m. General public will be allowed in at 6 p.m. Parking and admission are both free, but those attending are asked to bring canned goods for the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.

The event will be hosted by IU graduates Courtney Cronin and Rhett Lewis. Cronin covers the Chicago Bears for ESPN, is a host on ESPN Radio and has been featured on some of the network's flagship shows including Around the Horn. Lewis, a former Indiana tight end, is the color analyst for Indiana football radio broadcasts.

Coaches Mike Woodson and Teri Moren will address the crowd and each player will be introduced. The teams will participate in a skills competition and 3-point shootout as well as "other basketball activities." The programs have not yet indicated if there will be some form of scrimmage. The G Herbo concert will follow those activities.

Fans are encouraged to arrive early for the football game on Saturday, as the tailgate fields and parking lots are expected to be packed as Homecoming usually draws in reunions of alums who don't all attend the game itself. The fields and lots open at 7 a.m.

Indiana University students cheer Oct. 16, 2021, during the Indiana-Michigan State football game at Memorial Stadium.

Other promotions and events associated with the football game follow.

  • The Big Noon Kickoff Show will begin at 10 a.m.
  • At halftime, the Marching Hundred will have a tribute to David Woodley, who was the director of IU athletic bands for 27 years until 2019. Woodley died in May. There are expected to be more than 335 band alumni and more than 100 former Redsteppers.
  • There will be a military flyover before the game.
  • Adidas will have a 360 video activation module in the Red Zone, an area in the North End Zone.