INDIANAPOLIS — Over at Butler's Esports Park on Fridays, the competition has been fierce throughout the month of February.
"We're going hard and we're going to win, hopefully," said Cameron Clark, Butler University senior.
Clark is joined by fellow Butler students as well as students from IU, Purdue and Notre Dame participating in the new Crossroads Classic. What used to be a closely-watched basketball event has now transformed into a data analytics challenge between the four schools.
"It's a fantastic way to keep the tradition alive. And there's more than just basketball in Indiana even though we love to say that," said Jason Davidson, a senior lecturer at Butler University in applied business technology. "Being able to connect students with all of our external business partners and work in this exciting field of data analytics has really been an awesome experience today."
"I think this is one of the better ways to do it because you know, everyone isn't into sports and everyone isn't into data, but the fact that we can transition into data from sports and it will add a whole other crowd in that might not have expected to like what data brings," Clark said.
And it has students around the state excited.
"I just really love to apply the things I'm learning in class with a fun, competitive environment with some of my classmates," said Bryan Galang, a Butler sophomore.
The four-week challenge has been bringing together students with different majors and skillsets as they learn new ways to solve problems.
"It is really, really something that the energy is just so incredible. We are sad we only get to host it once every four years," Davidson said.
They're taking that competitive spirit between schools off the court and onto the screen. Everyone here is ready to dig in and get to work to take home the win.
"Oh, very hopeful. Very confident," Galang said.
The Crossroads Classic wrapped up Feb. 24. Butler took first and second place in the undergraduate competition. Purdue took first and second place in the graduate competition.