If there’s anything Hoosiers love, it’s the chance to cheer on their favorite college basketball teams! And what better way is there than to show their spirit during the First Round of the 2011 NCAA tourney?

This Snappening blog post is slammed with ideas and recipes to make this year’s competition (err, celebration) look and taste as good as victory!

Go beyond the chicken wings and guacamole—this is your chance to take that party-planning win streak you’re on to the next level.

When your guests arrive in time to watch your favorite Hoosier team in the tourney’s first round, serve any one, or several, of these Indiana college basketball-themed drinks to get the action started!

 

“NotreDamendy” Cooler

Ingredients: 1 oz.  calvados, 1 tsp.  sugar syrup, 1 oz. whisky, Club Soda, lemon slice
Mixing instructions: Mix all ingredients (except club soda) with ice in a shaker or blender. Pour into a chilled highball glass and fill with club soda. Option: Garnish with lemon slice. This drink is sure to be the luck of the Irish!

Boilermakers Bloody Mary

Ingredients: Several pinches of celery salt to taste, several dashes of TABASCO® Brand Pepper Sauce, 4-6 oz. tomato juice, 1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp. dill (fresh or dried), 1 1/2 oz. vodka, 1 tsp. lemon juice, pinch of white pepper
Mixing instructions: Mix all ingredients well with cracked ice and serve in a chilled Collins glass with additional ice cubes if needed. It’s the perfect beverage for those daytime games!

Butler Bossa Nova

Ingredients: 3 oz. pineapple juice, 1/4 oz.  apricot brandy, 1 1/2 oz. lemon mix, 1 oz.  Galliano, 1 oz. light rum, Maraschino cherry, pineapple slice
Mixing instructions: Mix all ingredients, except pineapple slice and cherry, with cracked ice in a shaker or blender and pour into a chilled Squall glass or a ten-pin Pilsener glass. Garnish with pineapple slice and cherry. We’ll raise our glass to what we hope is as exciting of a tournament as last year!

IU “Sink the Biz”

Ingredients: All you need is beer, a bucket and a glass

Instructions: The game is a popular activity at Bloomington’s very own Nick’s English Hut. With a bucket full of beer and a glass set inside, you’re ready to go. Going around the table, each player pours a stream of beer into the glass with hopes of keeping it afloat. The one who sinks it, drinks it. Good luck with this one, folks!

Instead of buzzer-worthy, regular game food, make this party an Indiana favorite by “catering” with mass amounts of your favorite late-night or game day food from your college years.

If you’re feeding a roomful of Butler fans, look no further than picking up Bazbeaux Pizza to complete the atmosphere.

To keep Purdue fans satisfied, pick up local favorite Mad Mushroom’s famous cheesesticks at one of their five Indiana-area locations (or recreate them from memory with the store-bought variety!).

Recreate the atmosphere at The Crazy Horse Food and Drink Emporium for IU grads and fans with a rib-off! You supply the ribs and have the guests bring their favorite barbeque sauces! Have taste-off competition and mini-bracket for the best barbeque sauce at the party!

Basketball fans, tell us how you made this Snappening idea your own by sharing photos and memories from your event on ourFacebook page!