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Crossroads Classic Replacement?


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So it appears our new President has a Kentucky connection and Woodson, with ties to guys like Kenny Payne and World Wide Wes, would have some connection to Calipari....given that, I would really like to see us maybe replace that Crossroads Classic with a new event that includes Indiana and Kentucky.

So something I thought could be interesting as an idea would be an event similar to the Crossroads Classic but have it be a round Robin type of event with IU, UK, Louisville, and a rotating 4th invited team each year.  IU/UK would play a year, IU/Louisville another, and the in year 3 Indiana would get whomever that 4th team was.

Try and schedule it early in the year as a bit of a "kick off" to the college basketball season.  Having 3 of the most valuable programs with their large fanbases all in one spot would ensure that it is always well attended.  Think of a weekend where like a Louisville/Michigan St. plays an early game followed by Indiana/Kentucky.  That is 4 solid to great fanbases within driving distance playing a marquee event in Indy.  Then the next year Indiana and Louisville square off and you maybe look at Kentucky and Gonzaga in the later game.  Then in year 3, Kentucky and Louisville play and maybe see an Indiana/UCLA type of matchup.

I don't know, just food for thought.  If things get moving for this program the way we are hoping, I hope we start to think a little bigger than Butler and Notre Dame for the games we play in Indy.

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36 minutes ago, IUCrazy2 said:

So it appears our new President has a Kentucky connection and Woodson, with ties to guys like Kenny Payne and World Wide Wes, would have some connection to Calipari....given that, I would really like to see us maybe replace that Crossroads Classic with a new event that includes Indiana and Kentucky.

So something I thought could be interesting as an idea would be an event similar to the Crossroads Classic but have it be a round Robin type of event with IU, UK, Louisville, and a rotating 4th invited team each year.  IU/UK would play a year, IU/Louisville another, and the in year 3 Indiana would get whomever that 4th team was.

Try and schedule it early in the year as a bit of a "kick off" to the college basketball season.  Having 3 of the most valuable programs with their large fanbases all in one spot would ensure that it is always well attended.  Think of a weekend where like a Louisville/Michigan St. plays an early game followed by Indiana/Kentucky.  That is 4 solid to great fanbases within driving distance playing a marquee event in Indy.  Then the next year Indiana and Louisville square off and you maybe look at Kentucky and Gonzaga in the later game.  Then in year 3, Kentucky and Louisville play and maybe see an Indiana/UCLA type of matchup.

I don't know, just food for thought.  If things get moving for this program the way we are hoping, I hope we start to think a little bigger than Butler and Notre Dame for the games we play in Indy.

How about the 4th team being Kansas

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1 hour ago, IUCrazy2 said:

So it appears our new President has a Kentucky connection and Woodson, with ties to guys like Kenny Payne and World Wide Wes, would have some connection to Calipari....given that, I would really like to see us maybe replace that Crossroads Classic with a new event that includes Indiana and Kentucky.

So something I thought could be interesting as an idea would be an event similar to the Crossroads Classic but have it be a round Robin type of event with IU, UK, Louisville, and a rotating 4th invited team each year.  IU/UK would play a year, IU/Louisville another, and the in year 3 Indiana would get whomever that 4th team was.

Try and schedule it early in the year as a bit of a "kick off" to the college basketball season.  Having 3 of the most valuable programs with their large fanbases all in one spot would ensure that it is always well attended.  Think of a weekend where like a Louisville/Michigan St. plays an early game followed by Indiana/Kentucky.  That is 4 solid to great fanbases within driving distance playing a marquee event in Indy.  Then the next year Indiana and Louisville square off and you maybe look at Kentucky and Gonzaga in the later game.  Then in year 3, Kentucky and Louisville play and maybe see an Indiana/UCLA type of matchup.

I don't know, just food for thought.  If things get moving for this program the way we are hoping, I hope we start to think a little bigger than Butler and Notre Dame for the games we play in Indy.

I'd rather play UK every year...but if we went like this I think OSU would make the most sense....IU/UK  OSU/UL  next year IU/UL and OSU/UK. Can alternate sites for all I care between Yum and Bankers Life...whatever...just get it done. We all would prefer a home and home but it's just never going to happen....so do the next best thing and do a champions classic.

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32 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

How about the 4th team being Kansas

Kansas is great...UNC...Duke...Michigan St.....all great teams but already are in a classic with UK meaning could face each other in back to back years etc etc. Ohio St has regional ties and this way since we already play and UK and UL already play it makes sense for it to just switch every year between the two like the Crossroads does.

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I don't know where we dredged a rivalry with Louisville up...We've only played them 15 times in our history...

UK is our traditional rival, and anyone who lived through the 70s will tell you it's as intense as any in college basketball...And I would much rather see a home and home on college campuses than a centralized "big event" with them...

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38 minutes ago, dgambill said:

Kansas is great...UNC...Duke...Michigan St.....all great teams but already are in a classic with UK meaning could face each other in back to back years etc etc. Ohio St has regional ties and this way since we already play and UK and UL already play it makes sense for it to just switch every year between the two like the Crossroads does.

If it would be a round robin I don't think you want another big ten team in it.  You want the other 3 teams be ones we could play and we wouldn't want to play a conference in the non conference

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3 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

If it would be a round robin I don't think you want another big ten team in it.  You want the other 3 teams be ones we could play and we wouldn't want to play a conference in the non conference

Oh..yeah I wasn't thinking a round robin in the same weekend. Just thinking replacing the crossroads with a similar style tournament. 

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37 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

I don't know where we dredged a rivalry with Louisville up...We've only played them 15 times in our history...

UK is our traditional rival, and anyone who lived through the 70s will tell you it's as intense as any in college basketball...And I would much rather see a home and home on college campuses than a centralized "big event" with them...

I just think UL because of making it a champions classic of local teams. Agreed rather UK be it's own yearly rivalry. UL is the only Kentucky school that will play us so I figured we might have to make it a rivalry.

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56 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

I don't know where we dredged a rivalry with Louisville up...We've only played them 15 times in our history...

UK is our traditional rival, and anyone who lived through the 70s will tell you it's as intense as any in college basketball...And I would much rather see a home and home on college campuses than a centralized "big event" with them...

I don't think Louisville is a traditional rival, what I was looking at is fanbases that travel, are nearby, and are not teams that we would normally see in the BIG.  Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, and insert 4th team here would be able to draw enough fans to warrant a Final Four type of setting in Lucas Oil.  I would like a home and home with UK, that is not happening.  So if you want to see that game, I think you need to get creative.

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1 minute ago, IUCrazy2 said:

I don't think Louisville is a traditional rival, what I was looking at is fanbases that travel, are nearby, and are not teams that we would normally see in the BIG.  Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, and insert 4th team here would be able to draw enough fans to warrant a Final Four type of setting in Lucas Oil.  I would like a home and home with UK, that is not happening.  So if you want to see that game, I think you need to get creative.

I just don't care for giving either of them any kind of recruiting cachet in the state of Indiana. 

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5 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

I just don't care for giving either of them any kind of recruiting cachet in the state of Indiana. 

They already have it, getting to a point where we are beating them regularly to show that we are back on the same level would be really good for us.  Not to mention the national audience that event would generate.  You can sell that type of thing nationally too.

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4 minutes ago, ledies22 said:

maybe i am being simple minded here, but maybe something or someone on the west coast for recruiting exposure (UCLA). bring the blue bloods together...UK, UCLA, IU, Duke/UNC

I think schools like Kansas, UCLA, Duke, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Villanova, or any other current flavor of the moment team would be a good option for that 4th spot.  I think you make that a rotating position because it is probably easier to get a commitment from a program that is not nearby if it is only a one year deal.

Kentucky and Louisville are close enough that their fanbases could travel to the game on a yearly basis without breaking the bank for travel costs.

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43 minutes ago, IUCrazy2 said:

I think schools like Kansas, UCLA, Duke, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Villanova, or any other current flavor of the moment team would be a good option for that 4th spot.  I think you make that a rotating position because it is probably easier to get a commitment from a program that is not nearby if it is only a one year deal.

Kentucky and Louisville are close enough that their fanbases could travel to the game on a yearly basis without breaking the bank for travel costs.

This'll sound insensitive, but travel costs shouldn't hold sway on who/where we play. Indiana University Basketball is a national brand with a huge alumni base. We wax poetic about being a blueblood program and hanging with the top teams of the country. We should schedule like we are; willing to play anyone, anywhere, anytime. We'll have the support.

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1 hour ago, MoyeCowbell said:

This'll sound insensitive, but travel costs shouldn't hold sway on who/where we play. Indiana University Basketball is a national brand with a huge alumni base. We wax poetic about being a blueblood program and hanging with the top teams of the country. We should schedule like we are; willing to play anyone, anywhere, anytime. We'll have the support.

I wasn't talking about travel for Indiana fans.  I was saying travel for fans for a team like Kansas.  Asking that school to sign up for a multiyear game in Indianapolis is not likely to get a commitment from them. 

We may have support anytime, anywhere but I think that is only to a degree.   If we signed up for a multiyear tournament in Kansas City, we would not have the kind of fan support that we would in Indy.

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5 hours ago, IUCrazy2 said:

So it appears our new President has a Kentucky connection and Woodson, with ties to guys like Kenny Payne and World Wide Wes, would have some connection to Calipari....given that, I would really like to see us maybe replace that Crossroads Classic with a new event that includes Indiana and Kentucky.

So something I thought could be interesting as an idea would be an event similar to the Crossroads Classic but have it be a round Robin type of event with IU, UK, Louisville, and a rotating 4th invited team each year.  IU/UK would play a year, IU/Louisville another, and the in year 3 Indiana would get whomever that 4th team was.

Try and schedule it early in the year as a bit of a "kick off" to the college basketball season.  Having 3 of the most valuable programs with their large fanbases all in one spot would ensure that it is always well attended.  Think of a weekend where like a Louisville/Michigan St. plays an early game followed by Indiana/Kentucky.  That is 4 solid to great fanbases within driving distance playing a marquee event in Indy.  Then the next year Indiana and Louisville square off and you maybe look at Kentucky and Gonzaga in the later game.  Then in year 3, Kentucky and Louisville play and maybe see an Indiana/UCLA type of matchup.

I don't know, just food for thought.  If things get moving for this program the way we are hoping, I hope we start to think a little bigger than Butler and Notre Dame for the games we play in Indy.

This was done in the 80's, it was the Big 4 Classic at the Hoosier Dome and included, IU, UK, UofL and ND.

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