Thousands of Hoosiers are still celebrating Indiana’s national championship.
Some waited 17 hours camping outside Dick’s Sporting Goods at College Mall to get autographs and take a picture with IU quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
Joni Buckles brought her family while her husband waited in line. She said they watched every game this year.
“Amazing for my kids to be able to see, he plays travel baseball for the Ellettsville Bulls and Mendoza is good character and good person to express out to the kids,” Buckles said.
Her son Luke agrees.
“He’s the best quarterback ever, he’s really tough, and a super-duper nice guy,” he said.
Gary Gross said he wanted to see all the commotion after watching IU football for 75 years.
“I first watched them when I was 10 years old. Now I’m 85 so it’s been a lot of years of frustration,” Gross said.
Just down the road, Kroger was hosting the national championship trophy. Lines weaved through the store to get a photo with the 24-karat gold trophy.
If you weren’t one of the 1,600 fans to see it, there’s one more chance at the westside Walmart Thursday from 4-7 p.m. Officials warn there’s a hard cut-off at 7 p.m.
IU athletics is also hosting a fan celebration at Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon.
