Conference tournaments provide incredible opportunities beyond the game of basketball. While I relish getting to talk hustle stats with Oregon head coach Dana Altman, the Big Ten also sports some of the best coaches in the nation. 

For years, I had seen Michigan State’s legendary head coach Tom Izzo go after reporters with his gruff voice, but this time it was me. 

For years, I had seen UCLA’s puppetmaster head coach Mick Cronin pop off at reporters asking about his future, but this time I was there.

The Big Ten Tournament became the first time I had been truly starstruck entering a room full of journalists. After riding three planes, just  being able to sit in that room should have made me feel as if I deserved to be there, but it didn’t. 

Everything I experienced felt surreal — both as a sports fan and reporter. 

Checking into a hotel directly across the street from the Indianapolis Colts’ monstrous Lucas Oil Stadium would have felt like a dream in any normal sense. But, when I checked in at midnight after 10 hours of traveling, the bright red lights bearing the stadium’s namesake made the sky light up. 

The next morning, the short walk to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home of the Indiana Pacers, checked off a part of a long-term bucket list item of mine — going to all 30 NBA arenas.

Indiana is also known as the home of many of basketball’s greatest stars — from Larry Bird to Darius Garland — so the history of the sport bled through to the tournament. Nothing would describe that better than the breathtaking number of reporters sent to cover the Indiana Hoosiers’ second round matchup against Oregon. 

Indiana’s state-wide media coverage made up for well over 20 reporters, while Eugene-based media only accounted for two.  

The score didn’t reflect the ratio of each team’s respective media coverage, but that’s something that the Ducks have had to deal with in their first season in the Big Ten. Oregon won its second round matchup 72-59 over Indiana. 

“We knew their crowd was going to be involved with it being here in Indiana. I feel like we play good on the road, and with crowds involved. We’re kind of the away team,” Oregon point guard Jackson Shelstad said. 

The next day, the Ducks matched up against coach Izzo’s top-seeded Spartans and lost 74-64 in the quarterfinal. Losing to the highest seed in the program’s first Big Ten tournament can never be frowned upon, especially to a coach who’s been at it with the same team for the last 31 seasons. 

After the game, I knew I needed to take my opportunity to get his feelings on beating one of the loudest conference newcomers since realignment. 

When asked how it felt to beat up on one of the newest conference teams as a tenured Big Ten member, Izzo’s answer came as a memorable surprise. 

“There was no beat up. Were you drinking, or were you seeing a different game?” Izzo said. 

The Basketball Hall of Famer, who is lauded for his incredible resume in March, then went on to describe how Oregon would make a lot of noise in the NCAA Tournament, as if I had not been covering this team all season. 

The Ducks played in the first game, and once my work for the day commenced, there were still three more games to be played. 

What I couldn’t gather from the press box was the incredible atmosphere of a conference tournament’s early rounds. Fans representing every team, even those eliminated, came to enjoy two or even four games of Big Ten hoops. The one thread that connected everyone, myself included, was an intense love for basketball. 

I only felt that when on the concourse or in the seats — it was incredible. Fortunately, the majority of fans in Indianapolis didn’t have to make a similar trip that I, or the Ducks, had to make. I noticed a group of Ohio State fans who could not have looked happier to be watching some great college basketball — the Buckeyes lost two days prior.

The Ducks lost in the quarterfinals, but that result played second fiddle to my experience immersing myself in one of the capitals of the basketball world. My first experience at a conference tournament proved that these events are much less a competition than a celebration of basketball.