Column: There's nothing like Hoosier Hysteria

As the temperature begins its inevitable dip and the leaves shift to the beautiful orange hue of an iconic Indiana fall, Hoosier fans anxiously await an annual, keystone event that captures the state’s undivided attention.

It’s Hoosier Hysteria.

While the rest of Big Ten country is steeped in the dramatics of another eventful college football season, those who call themselves “Hoosiers” meticulously count the days until the celebration that is Hoosier Hysteria.

It’s not a game. There is no opponent.

It’s not even quite fair to label the event a glorified scrimmage.

No, Hoosier Hysteria isn’t intended for a broadcast audience. Rather, it’s a gathering to commemorate the cessation of another successfully maneuvered offseason, and the commencement of the one of Indiana natives’ most highly regarded event: college basketball season.

Hoosier Hysteria doesn’t quite possess the buzz of a high profile game, but it bottles up the explosive, intensive passion that exists for Indiana basketball.

I’d even go so far as to say the buildup to Hoosier Hysteria is tangible.

There’s a palpable excitement that sweeps through campus and the Bloomington community, for the event signifies not only the return of college basketball, but the first chapter in the Hoosiers’ quest to hang a sixth championship banner from the rafters of Assembly Hall.

Fans who call themselves realists understand the 2013-14 season won’t end with IU Coach Tom Crean hoisting the NCAA Championship trophy, though not even that notion can curtail the fiery fervor permeating throughout Hoosier Nation.

A select few opposing programs may come close to matching the atmosphere of Hoosier Hysteria with their own versions of what is commonly referred to as Midnight Madness, but I’m convinced no other program will ever top this Indiana tradition.

Sure, Kansas’ “Late Night” and Kentucky’s “Big Blue Madness” are spectacles in their own right, but neither can overcome Hoosier Hysteria.

There’s no concrete answer for why that is, but the one response I’ve heard time and again is something Crean said five years ago during his introductory press conference: “It’s Indiana.”

No other state in America reveres one sport so near and dear to its collective heart than Indiana does basketball.

Those who were born and raised in Indiana — myself among them — understand what basketball means to the state.

As Hoosiers, we have the film “Hoosiers,” Larry Bird, the late John Wooden and 12 of the 15 largest high school gymnasiums in America.

If that doesn’t illustrate a love for the game, I’m not sure what does.
 
On Oct. 4, IU fans from all corners of the state will make their respective journeys to the Mecca of basketball in the state of Indiana — Assembly Hall — to baptize a new season and a new team.

Certain parents will introduce IU basketball to their children for the first time, which is a heartwarming sight for anyone fortunate enough to witness.

IU students from other parts of the country and the world will be indoctrinated into the religion that is IU basketball, while native Hoosiers will carry on this annual tradition.
 
All 17,472 people jammed into the “Carnegie Hall of Basketball” will display the sole appropriate adjective to describe IU basketball and the celebration of the sport in Indiana: Hysteria.

­— ckillore@indiana.edu Follow columnist Connor Killoren on Twitter @IDS_CGKilloren.