Indiana is so hot right now

New York and LA refer to the Midwest as "flyover states."

Well, here in the Flyover States, people refer to Indiana as the drive-through state.

This shows up in Indiana's state motto: The Crossroads of America. The state you drive across to get from Michigan to Chicago. Recent Indiana tourism ads even read like they're being defensive. Anything but ordinary. Come see what we see IN Indiana. If Missouri is the "Show Me" state, Indiana's motto is "We'll show YOU."

Indiana occasionally shows up on the national radar. Bobby Knight in the 80s. Reggie Miller in the 90s. Peyton Manning in the 2000s. But recently, Indiana's been pretty quiet. Only appears as a trivia question. Did you know Mike Pence is from Indiana? Or a friend's movie review on Letterboxd. "Finally saw Hoosiers. Thought it was pretty slow."

But all of that has changed in the last year. Indiana is no longer the crossroads of America. They are quietly the center of the sporting universe.

It's Indiana, so you gotta start with basketball. The Indiana Fever has the biggest star in WNBA history. Caitlin Clark. AND they almost made the WNBA Finals with Clark injured. Plus, their second-most-popular player, Sophie Cunningham, was also out.

Speaking of the finals, the Indiana Pacers captured the nation's heart with one of the most surprising, exciting, and improbable runs to the NBA Finals. The Pacers (arguably) ended one Achilles tendon shy of a Game 7 victory. And now, while Tyrese Haliburton heals, they've got the Australian Kangaroo, Johnny Furphy, dunking over dudes left and right.

How 'bout those Purdue Boilermakers? Pre-season No. 1. Purdue was in the NCAA Championship Game two years ago. Where's the Final Four in 2026? Where else? Indianapolis.

The Indiana Hoosiers are No. 3. This year's basketball team is -- (checks notes) sorry, this can't be right. (checks notes again) Football? Yep, you heard that right, the Indiana football team has its highest ranking in program history. Just Google their coach. Right as your SEC friend rolls their eyes and argues, "They probably haven't played anybody," welp, think again. Indiana clobbered Illinois (63-10) and just won at Oregon. All indications are this team is anything but ordinary.

The Indianpolis Colts are 5-1. Top of the AFC. Their quarterback has a cool nickname, too. Indiana Jones. Talk about finding a diamond in the rough. Daniel Jones played six years for the New York Giants. Won like 35% of his games. Turns out, he just needed to leave New York and play for a Flyover State.

How's Indiana's NHL team? Not sure they have one, but they should. They'd hoist the Stanley Cup by the end of next season. MLB is looking at expansion. Indy would become more dominant than the Dodgers.

This is crazy. Notre Dame football isn't even a top five Indiana sports storyline. And they're sitting over there at No. 13 in the recent AP poll.

I assume the Indy 500 is bigger than ever, too, because of how popular F1 is... but it's not really F1... but it kind of is. But it's not. Am I explaining that right?

But why stop at sports? Indiana's about to be the center of the entertainment universe. Stranger Things final season is rolling out on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. Might be the only thing that can steal those holidays away from heavy hitters like the NFL, NBA, college football, and time with your family. Have you been to a grocery store lately? You can’t find a bag of Doritos, Oreos, or Chips Ahoy without seeing the Stranger Things logo.

And Breaking Away is still a Top 5 movie of all-time. And there's Larry Bird. And David Letterman. And Michael Jackson. And Hinkle Fieldhouse. And a great children's museum. And the Indiana pork tenderloin sandwich, which is still a massive display of fried awesomeness.

Especially after a weekend where my home state (Michigan) saw the Tigers get eliminated, Michigan and Michigan State both get manhandled by Los Angeles teams, and the Lions lose on Sunday Night Football to the Chiefs [both Taylor Swift and basketball's Taylor Swift (Caitlin Clark) in attendance], I look over at Indiana's situation and it's an absolute embarrassment of riches.

People can make as many Flyover State or Drive Through jabs as they want. The truth is: we're jealous.

As Will Ferrel's character in Zoolander would say, "Indiana is so hot right now."

They've turned the world Upside Down.

(cue Stranger Things theme music)

If you enjoyed this blog post, consider checking out my Midwest heavy book, Here or There, or Michigan based novels Meet the Godfreys and Tour de Bathroom.