OMAHA, Neb. - The calendar says it's June, and here are Indiana and Louisville playing for a national championship.
Yes, the sport is baseball this time, not the game played with the big orange ball for which both schools are traditionally known.
The Hoosiers (48-18) are making their College World Series debut as the first Big Ten team in 29 years to reach Omaha. They'll open today night against a Louisville team (51-12) that's here for only the second time, and first since 2007.
"Maybe we should get a basketball and start a pickup game out here," Indiana third baseman Dustin DeMuth said with a grin after Friday's practice at TD Ameritrade Park.
The CWS begins this afternoon with Mississippi State (48-18) facing No. 3 national seed Oregon State (50-11). Sunday's openers in the opposite bracket pit No. 1 seed North Carolina (57-10) against rival North Carolina State (49-14) and UCLA (44-17) against No. 4 seed LSU (57-9).
The teams that make it through double-elimination bracket play will advance to the best-of-three finals that start June 24.