I got to take in two college basketball experiences on the same day in a place where the sport simply means more.
During the summer, I was approached by one of my friends from my time at Auburn about traveling to Indianapolis, Indiana for the Tigers' game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
I wasn't interested at first, mainly because I didn't want to travel that far for a neutral site game. If the contest had been at Mackey Arena I would have been fired up about the idea from the beginning.
Nevertheless, the more he asked, the more I considered it. I was officially won over when I realized it would be possible to stop by Bloomington, Indiana to take in a Hoosiers game — my first college basketball love — at Assembly Hall.
I love the drive through the bottom part of the state. The back roads through farming town after farming town, and every driveway has a basketball goal in it. You pass through a lot of those on Indiana-46, and every single one is proud of the local high school team.
Basketball is the heartbeat of the Hoosier State, and I love that.
We showed up in Bloomington a few hours before tip off, and our first stop was Nick's English Hut. My uncle had already grabbed a table and pitcher of beer for us, and no more than a few minutes later my stromboli had arrived.
After enjoying the delicious sandwich, it was time to head inside Assembly Hall, what I consider to be college basketball's most beautiful cathedral.
The Hoosiers put away Chicago State, and it was time to head to Indianapolis.
After some pregame fellowship with the Auburn Alumni Association at Tom's Watch Bar, it was time to head into the arena. Purdue gave Auburn all it wanted, but it was still an enjoyable experience because of the high quality arena and hospitality from the Purdue fans around us.
I'm looking forward to my next trip to the Hoosier state.