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Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger on Indianapolis March Madness: 'Whatever we need to do'

The Big 12 Conference alone lost nearly $25 million from the Coronavirus shutdown last spring, so the NCAA and its universities are finding creative ways to mitigate the virus

Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger is on board with the NCAA’s idea to have March Madness in Indianapolis.

“Whatever we need to do,” Kruger said this week.

The NCAA is teaming up with the state of Indiana and the city of Indianapolis this year to stage the NCAA Tournament at four venues in Indianapolis as well as Purdue University in West Lafayette and Indiana University in Bloomington.

READ THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR'S REPORT

It won’t be anything close to the NBA bubble that successfully staged the rest of the reimagined 2020 regular season and the NBA playoffs, but the intention is similar.

“That’s the priority, to make sure there’s a tournament,” Kruger said. “So whatever we can do as an organization to give that the best chance of happening. And if it’s to create a bubble, if you will, in the Indianapolis area, then so be it.”

The Coronavirus pandemic that wiped out last year’s college basketball season almost in its entirety is still raging. Oklahoma, for instance, recently reported a record number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

But with greater knowledge of the virus, medical advances and the recent introduction of a vaccine, universities and other entities have grown confident in mitigating the spread of the virus. Colleges went from a wholesale shutdown in the spring to finding a way to play an entire college football season in the fall.

The NBA showed it can be done. Major League Baseball changed its structure and had a successful postseason. The NFL somehow got every game played.

Big 12 Conference commissioner Bob Bowlsby said in March that his league’s financial losses were staggering from the shutdown last spring: about $6.6 million from the loss of the men’s and women’s conference basketball tournaments, and roughly $15-18 million from the NCAA Tournament and other championships.

So this year’s tournament will be staged at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, and the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, as well as Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Assembly Hall in Bloomington, and Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indy.

“This is a one-off year so whatever we need to do,” Kruger said. “Keep adjusting and stay flexible with it and do whatever we need to do.”

NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt told the Indianapolis Star that the tournament will not be in a sealed off “bubble” environment like the NBA, but will be one “which is highly controlled.”

According to the Star, teams will be sequestered within their hotel floors, they’ll be assigned to specific areas within the facilities they play, practice and meet, and only “Tier 1” individuals — athletes, coaches and team support staff — will be allowed in those areas.

Kruger’s Sooners have already played three road games this season at TCU in Fort Worth, at Xavier in Cincinnati and at Baylor in Waco. Like much of this season, Kruger said he expects this year’s NCAA Tournament will look quite a bit different.

“It’s not a normal road trip, not a normal road experience,” Kruger said. “You treat the hotels differently, you treat the restaurants differently. The way you take meals, all that is different this year. But again, that’s part of the year that we’re in. No problem there. We’ll do whatever we need to do.”