When Indiana University takes on number one seed Kentucky Friday night, they'll have lots of fan support from Bloomington. More than 50 students boarded a bus that pulled out from the Indiana Memorial Union Friday morning before the sun came up.
It's an eight and a half hour trip to Atlanta. Both IU Freshman Sara Klehfoth and Kayla Freeze say they're ready for the game.
"They've worked really hard and I think it's nice that we can go down to support them after all they've done this year," says Klehfoth.
"It hasn't happened in a while so everyone's excited about it and coming together. The more people we have down there the more exciting it is," says Freeze.
Union Board Spirit Director Brianna Whittenbarger organized the trip. She says she knew the demand would be there and wanted to make the trip happen. The student's package includes tickets to all the games this weekend, the bus ride and hotel expenses.
"Everyone's pretty lively. I haven't even slept, so I'm just excited to Atlanta. I'm excited for the game I can't even concentrate," adds Whittenbarger.
The Hoosiers go into tonight's game with a 27 – 8 overall record. One of those wins was against the Kentucky Wildcats in December. IU also defeated Number 2 seed Ohio State and Number 5 ranked Michigan State teams in the regular season for the first time in IU history. This also marks the first time in Big Ten history since 1952-53 that a league team had defeated the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the same season.
Freshman Dan Walsh says the team's success gives him a lot of pride.
"It's been a while, obviously many of the upperclassmen have been through some of the hard years through Crean's start here at Indiana, but it really brings you back to the pride of being a Hoosier the pride of having a rich tradition in basketball," says Walsh.
Tip-off is tonight at 9:45. The winner of tonight's IU/Kentucky game will head to the Elite 8 on Sunday.
