Even with the Indiana Hoosiers men’s basketball program missing the NCAA tournament this season, the Big Dance couldn’t stay away from Bloomington.

Forty years ago, Assembly Hall hosted the Mideast Regional of the 1981 NCAA tournament— where the Hoosiers went on to win their fourth National Championship. This weekend, Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall hosts their first NCAA tournament action since that championship run.

Assembly Hall will have a limited capacity for tournament games, as just 500 fans (2.9 percent full) consisting of family members of the competing student-athletes and fully vaccinated healthcare workers will be allowed inside the arena.

“Once Indianapolis started its sports-oriented campaign for tourism in the mid-1980s, those of us involved with Indiana University athletics were involved in preparation for NCAA consideration,” Indiana basketball public address announcer Chuck Crabb said. “We purposely elected not to bid against Indianapolis.”

For this reason, Indiana University has decided not to host any rounds of the NCAA tournament— until now. According to Crabb, all 68 teams competing in the NCAA tournament will be hosted in four and five-star hotels in Indianapolis, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

For teams heading to Bloomington, each program is required to travel across three 55-passenger coaches to adhere to social distancing guidelines. In between practices, the court, benches, basketball rims, and basketballs are disinfected.

It’s not just the players on high-alert during this pandemic-plagued postseason—all personnel working the tournament are taking extra precautions ahead of college basketball’s biggest event.

“There’s testing occurring each day. PCR testing in Assembly Hall for any of our personnel that we’re working on that day,” Crabb said. “And we each get a wristband by day, that will show the security that we’re cleared with the covid test to be accessible throughout the building.

Thursday’s action featured a pair of 16-seed First Four games— Texas Southern vs. Mount Saint Mary’s, and Appalachian State vs. Norfolk State. 

The entire First Round slate of games at Assembly Hall is as follows:

Friday, March 19 

• No. 6-seed Texas Tech (17-10) defeats No. 11-seed Utah State (20-8), 65-53
• No. 2-seed Houston (24-3) vs. No. 15-seed Cleveland State (19-7), 

Saturday, March 20

• No. 8-seed LSU (18-9) vs. No. 9-seed St. Bonaventure (16-4), 1:45 PM tip-off on TNT
• No. 4-seed Virginia (18-6) vs. No. 13-seed Ohio, 7:15 PM tip-off on truTV

Although Bloomington is serving as one of the host sites this season, arguably the biggest storyline over the last week was the firing of Indiana men’s basketball head coach, Archie Miller, after four seasons. Ironically, the Hoosiers missed out on the tournament they are helping host for the fifth straight year.

Miller failed to lead the Hoosiers to the NCAA tournament in his four years with the program, although Indiana was projected to make the field last season prior to the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Miller had three years remaining on a seven-year contract he signed with Indiana in 2017 after leaving the University of Dayton following four NCAA tournament appearances with the Flyers. 

Even with his dismissal, Miller will receive over $10.3 million as part of the buyout agreement in his contract.

“As a senior in high school, I chose Indiana for not a main reason, but one of the reasons I would like to come here was ‘Oh, Assembly Hall. That would be so cool to watch basketball games here’ and Indiana basketball, Indiana basketball,” IU senior Nick Pleszkun said. “That’s all I grew up knowing. So obviously, coming here and not even experiencing a run in the tournament is pretty upsetting to say the least.”

As for who will become the next head coach of Indiana men’s basketball and the 30th overall in the program’s history, it is unclear who the frontrunner is to this point. 

SportsLine, a sports betting oddsmaker site, currently projects former Michigan Wolverines and Cleveland Cavaliers head coach John Belien as the favorite, followed by current Baylor head coach Scott Drew and current Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard as the top three replacement candidates.

“There’s a lot of dust on five NCAA banners. We really haven’t been necessarily a big factor in current basketball and what those recruits would be looking at,” Crabb said. “The new head coach will have to be one that has to be mindful of the past but also understand the present and develop the future.”