Tens of thousands of NCAA fans expected during March Madness INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Basketball fans will pack Lucas Oil Stadium for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games, bringing men’s basketball fans from Purdue, Tennessee, Houston and Kentucky. O’Reilly’s Irish Bar, a downtown Indianap olis restaurant, was empty Monday morning, but, this weekend, the seats will be filled with fans. Owner Joel Reitz said, “Residents of Indiana root for any Indiana team when they play and get this far so there will be a lot of Butler fans, Indiana University fans, Notre Dame fans rooting for Purdue, rooting for Indiana.” Reitz says the bar has been opened for nearly two decades. He expects crowds this weekend to rival what he saw two weeks ago for the Big Ten men’s basketball championships. “It was busy. My estimate we sold about Thursday to Monday night 4,000 draft beers along with a lot of other things.” Fish and chips is a big seller, and Reitz says he expects the crowd will go through 600 pieces of fish. Only half of Lucas Oil Stadium will be used for the NCAA Midwest Regional games, but that’s still enough room to hold 30,000 fans said Indiana Sports Corp spokesperson Dan Gliot. “The last time we had a basketball games in here was 2021 during COVID. So, this is the first time Lucas Oil Stadium will be hosting basketball games free with no COVID restrictions since the 2015 Final Four. So, we’re really excited to show all these basketball fans.” The Sweet 16 Games will be played Friday. Purdue will face the No. 1 seed Houston at 10:09 p.m. The Tennessee Volunteers will face Kentucky Wildcats at 7:39 p.m. Winners will play on the Elite Eight game Sunday. Indianapolis set for massive sports week ...read more read less