This will have some Juice
After a lackluster non-conference schedule this season, Indiana is working to add some elite opponents to next years slate.
Per Jon Rothstein, Indiana is working on scheduling a neutral site game with the Marquette Golden Eagles. The game will reportedly be played in the United Center.
This will not be the first time the schools have met in recent memory. The Hoosiers hosted Marquette as part of the 2018 Gavitt Games, with Indiana winning in convincing fashion against a then-ranked Golden Eagles squad.
The win, which featured good play from Romeo Langford and Evan Fitzner, was one of the highs of the Miller era.
Playing this game in the United Center makes sense, as both teams have strong alumni bases in Chicago. Marquette fans are about as well-represented at DePaul games as Indiana fans are in Welsh-Ryan arena, so expect this game to sell out soon after tickets become available.
Of course also notable is the fact that Indiana will have a new coach for this matchup, while Marquette will be in year four of a wildly successful Shaka Smart tenure. In his first two seasons, Smart has gotten Marquette to at least the Round of 32 and should be headed for another good seed this year.
Given Smart’s consistency at Marquette, expect this to be a tough matchup for an Indiana team that will have a new coach and likely a lot of new players. We should learn a lot about what kind of team and coach Indiana will have from this one.