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Hinkle Fieldhouse is ready to play its part in hosting March Madness

The NCAA picked Hinkle Fieldhouse to host 16 games during the tournament.
Credit: AP
In this March 30, 2010, file photo, light shines through the windows onto the basketball court at Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse. (AP Photo/AJ Mast, File)

INDIANAPOLIS — March Madness basketball fans are getting a healthy dose of Hoosier history.

While most fans are following their teams from seats inside glitzy modern arenas, some are basking in the history of Hinkle Fieldhouse. Fans from all over are in awe of all that Hinkle means to basketball.

"Other than us playing basketball in Damon Bailey's driveway I can't picture a more picturesque for us to go to a game," said David Leibowitz, who came up from Florida. 

"It's big. This is a big deal for us. We are excited," said Lisa Schneiderman, a fan from Virginia. "I've seen the movie."

Who hasn't seen the movie about wide-eyed Hoosier kids from Hickory High looking to win the state basketball championship and make history at Hinkle?

Friends from Georgia started to laugh when one of them pulled up his shirt to reveal a "Hoosiers" basketball jersey. 

"It is the Mecca of college basketball," Jonathon Kesler said. "This is where everything should be, the championship should be, in my opinion for the tournament."

Credit: WTHR
Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The NCAA didn't go that far, but picked Hinkle to host 16 games, putting the spotlight on Butler University. A decade ago, the Bulldogs made two runs to the championship game.

"You just feel it walking in, the excitement, the closeness," Tom Irick said. "It smells like an arena not just fast food or anything. It is a special place."

Fans of the fieldhouse use the words "magical," "beautiful," "intimate" and "historic" when they speak of it.

"If you want to be a Cinderella team. If you want to be somebody who wants to make a run, you want to be here in this arena," said Chris Bishop.

Hinkle is built on nearly 100 years of memories. It is bound to add a few more during this March Madness.

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