INDIANAPOLIS – They could get rid of the Crossroads Classic. Sure they could. But then we wouldn’t get the kid from DePauw impersonating an IU student, just so he can get on the floor at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and out-shoot a student from Purdue.

They could get rid of the Crossroads Classic, but we wouldn’t get the cheerleader from Notre Dame head-butting the backboard. Or Duke transfer Jordan Tucker making his Butler debut, and making it so impressively that IU decided to sic Romeo Langford on him.

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Speaking of Romeo, we wouldn’t get him in college at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Or Rob Phinisee draining a shot we’ll discuss for years downtown. Or Butler's mascot, Trip, posing for pictures with the president of Purdue and with cheerleaders from IU.

What happened on Saturday was great for the two teams that won, Notre Dame and Indiana, but the real winners were the state of Indiana, the city of Indianapolis, and everyone who sees the value in our basketball state exercising its muscle in a way no other state in America could even try.

That list — the people who see the value in our state rising up and asserting itself — includes the one guy who could most easily tear this thing apart. IU coach Archie Miller, I’m saying. He could blow up the Crossroads Classic if he wanted, and believe me, a large segment of the IU fan base wants him to blow this thing up. Here’s what Archie said after Phinisee’s 35-footer beat the buzzer and Butler, 71-68, capping a frenzied five hours at the Fieldhouse that began with Notre Dame topping Purdue 88-80:

“I tell you what,” Archie said when I asked him if he wants to keep playing in the Crossroads Classic, “the environment in here is so NCAA tournament-esque. It's so passionate, it's kind of hard not to want to be in here. For Indiana and Indiana University, the city of Indianapolis, my feel is, in here, this is a great environment for our team.”

Good on ya, Archie Miller, for seeing the bigger picture. This event isn't about any one school, even the state’s flagship university, which doubles as the Indiana school with the most Division I national titles. It’s that confluence — IU is what it is, culturally and basketball-wise – that has a lot of IU fans wondering:

What’s in it for us?

And up to a point, that point being legitimate if myopic, those fans are right. Any of the four schools in this event could find another game to play, a great game to play, on a Saturday in mid-December. Let’s get that straight: Purdue, Butler, Notre Dame, those schools don’t need charity from IU. Pretty good basketball traditions in their own right, know what I mean?

But IU is what it is, the state school with the biggest presence nationally, and as such the Hoosiers are the one most likely to turn down invitations to enormous mid-December events like the CBS Sports Classic because it conflicts with the Crossroads Classic — an invitation IU did in fact turn down a few years ago.

IU stayed in the Crossroads Classic in 2014, in part because it’s the right thing to do, and in part because it makes the IU power-brokers happy. See, athletic director Fred Glass and the biggest, most visible IU alums are from around here or live around here or both, and they want to be at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on this day in December. And so it continues. And with Archie Miller’s backing, it will keep on keeping on.

And thank goodness for that. Let me show you some of the magic from Saturday, the little stuff that doesn’t really fit into a game story, but needs to be told anyway. Just so you can see how quirky, how special this event is.

IU impostor steals the show

Exhibit A: The IU student who’s not an IU student at all, but somehow found himself being called “the student from IU” in a shooting contest during a timeout of the second game. The kid’s name is Sam Karcher, and he won the contest because he’s good. High release, lots of arc, hoisting one rainbow after another from behind the 3-point arc into the pot of gold we call a basket in this state. Karcher was so good, wearing that IU golf shirt of his, that I followed him off the court to get his name and his story.

“Where did you play?” I was asking him. He’s telling me he played at Bloomington South, and he’s smiling when I ask him if he had scholarship offers.

“No, man,” he says. “I only played two years (at South). I’m a golfer!”

For IU?

Now Karcher is really smiling.

“For DePauw,” he says. “Don’t cost me my prize!”

I tell him he’s fine — by the time his deceit makes it into the paper, this event will be long over — and the golfer from DePauw gives me a fist to bump.

Butler's going to be terrific

Karcher was shooting on the same basket where the cheerleader from Notre Dame was jogging off the court after a timeout, sized up the backboard and just sprung. He wanted to see if he could tap his noggin on the cushioned underside of the backboard. Just because, I guess. By the way: He could. He did. And the guy couldn’t have been 6 feet tall.

Just one of those things you see at the Crossroads Classic, as long as there is a Crossroads Classic to see. We also saw 6-7, 210-pound Duke transfer Jordan Tucker make his Butler debut, drain a 3-pointer, and immediately be guarded by the one person on the IU roster who can match his combination of size, length and athletic ability: Romeo Langford. Tucker took one more shot, missed it, and barely played again.

That was a choice Butler coach LaVall Jordan said he made for defense, with Tucker not having “the defensive reps” to keep up with his teammates, but I can tell you this: Once Tucker gets into the defensive flow, he’s going to be a terrific addition to a Butler team that is better than I thought it would be without Kelan Martin and Tyler Wideman.

What I saw Saturday: Kamar Baldwin is more explosive. Sean McDermott and Paul Jorgensen are better shooters than they’ve ever been, and they’d combined to make 160 shots behind the 3-point arc entering the season.

And Joey Brunk? Oh my goodness is the center from Southport becoming something unique. He’s 6-11 with NBA skill, bounciness and motor.

Let’s see, what else would we miss if the Crossroads Classic evaporates? We’d miss Notre Dame’s Rex Pflueger showing his senior savvy, smacking away the hand of Purdue defender Ryan Cline until Cline just stopped putting it on him, and later — after being helped into the locker room with a knee injury — limping back to the Notre Dame bench with ice on his knee and becoming another coach on the sideline, shouting instructions as the Irish held on for the win.

Cline, Williams go off for Purdue

What else, what else … We’d miss the sight of Cline lighting up the Fieldhouse in the second half of his final game here. And we’d miss Purdue freshman Trevion Williams presenting himself as a factor for Matt Painter to consider going forward. Williams entered Saturday with 16 points and six rebounds all season, then posted 10 points and four rebounds in nine minutes against Notre Dame, keeping the Boilermakers in the game in the final minutes.

We’d miss former IU player Derek Elston, now the Hoosiers’ director of player development, walking around the court in slacks that are intentionally short, hanging about 2 inches above his shoes, allowing glimpses of red-and-white striped socks, as if his lower legs are candy canes.

Oh, we’d miss this thing, if it went away. All of us. Archie Miller speaks the truth — that IU has more to lose than anyone else — but then he speaks something else. More truth, I hope. Minds can change, but let’s hope his doesn’t. Here’s what he said:

“I think it's a hard, hard game for Indiana in here because I do think you come in here and you get that bullseye put right on you,” he was saying after the game Saturday. “It's a great opportunity for the other two teams in the state.”

Yes, but?

“But the environment for our players is incredible to play in. I would say that,” he said. “It's an incredible venue. The fan base is obviously very excited for it. So for us, to me, this is nothing but a positive for our university, our fans and our players most specifically. It's a great chance for them to play in here.”

Good. See you here next year. And the next. And next. And …

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter: @GreggDoyelStar or at facebook.com/gregg.doyel.

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