Indianapolis, IN

Colts playoff picture: How Indianapolis can clinch AFC South, wild-card spot in Week 18 | Sporting News

Published

2 years ago

January 6, 2024

Colts playoff picture: How Indianapolis can clinch AFC South, wild-card spot in Week 18 | Sporting News

The Colts hired Shane Steichen to take over for Frank Reich during the offseason, then selected Anthony Richardson with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to kickstart what was supposed to be a rebuild.

It appears that the first-time head coach has the Colts ahead of schedule.

Indianapolis enters the final week of the 2023 NFL season poised to potentially make the postseason. The 9-7 squad has found success as a well-balanced team helmed by backup quarterback Gardner Minshew, who took over for Richardson after the top signal-caller went down with a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 5.

The Colts last made the playoffs in 2020, but they haven’t won a game since 2018 when Andrew Luck led the team to a 21-7 victory over the Texans. Seeing Steichen reach the playoffs with a win over the Texans in his first season would certainly paint a bright picture of the team’s future.

NFL WEEK 18 PICKS: Straight up | Against the spread

What will it take for the Colts to make the postseason? Here’s what to know about the Colts’ playoff picture entering Week 18.

Colts playoff picture

The Colts have a simple path to making the 2024 playoffs: Beat the Texans in Week 18 to clinch at least a wild-card berth.

The Colts enter Week 18 as the No. 7 seed in the AFC but are in a three-way tie for that spot with the Texans and Steelers. Indianapolis currently owns the tiebreaker thanks to their head-to-head wins over each team, so a win would guarantee that it would remain in the driver’s seat regardless of the Steelers’ results.

That said, the Texans would surpass the Colts in the AFC standings with a win. As such, the Colts will likely focus all of their energy on winning, as they must avoid losing to stay in the postseason race. While they can still make the playoffs with a tie and a loss or tie by the Steelers, that scenario seems unlikely.

A win also would give the Colts a chance to be the No. 6 seed in the AFC. They would come out ahead of the Bills if tied for that slot, as Indianapolis would have a superior conference record to Buffalo.

How the Colts can win the AFC South

The benefits of a victory don’t stop there. A win would also position the Colts to potentially clinch the AFC South if the Jaguars lose against the Titans. They can also get the divisional crown with a tie and a Jacksonville loss.

Winning the division would give the Colts a home game against the Browns and allow them to avoid potential matchups against the Dolphins, Bills, and Chiefs. So, accomplishing this may be the ideal scenario for Indianapolis.

Even so, the Colts’ No. 1 focus will simply be on winning to guarantee them a playoff spot. They can then worry about their seeding if they can achieve that goal.

POWER RANKINGS: Cowboys, Browns, Steelers climb as Dolphins, Eagles, Seahawks drop for Week 18

Colts clinching scenarios

Below is a clearer look at Indianapolis’ clinching scenarios in Week 18 of the 2023 NFL season:

Indianapolis Colts (9-7)

Indianapolis clinches the AFC South division title with:

Colts win AND Jaguars loss or tie OR
Colts tie AND Jaguars loss

Indianapolis clinches a playoff berth with:

Colts win OR
Colts tie AND Steelers loss or tie

A loss to the Texans would eliminate the Colts from postseason contention.

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Indianapolis, IN

Final Four Fan Fest, concerts in Indy feature some big names

Published

9 hours ago

April 2, 2026

Press Room

Final Four Fan Fest, concerts in Indy feature some big names

Heading to Indianapolis for the 2026 Final Four?

There’s plenty beyond basketball to keep you busy with fan events and concerts popping up across downtown Indy to mark the April 4 and 6 games at Lucas Oil Stadium — plus the Division II, Division III and NIT championships taking place back-to-back-to-back at Gainbridge Fieldhouse April 5.

Concerts featuring Twenty One Pilots, Zac Brown Band, Post Malone and Megan Moroney are the headliners. There will be an additional music festival, a dribbling contest through the city and what the NCAA is dubbing a multi-day “sports wonderland” at the Indiana Convention Center are on tap for the extended Final Four weekend. Here’s your guide to everything downtown will have to offer.

Swish 2026

April 3-6. Around downtown. Live music, art and giveaways. Free. indyarts.org/swish-2026

More than 200 local artists, performers, vendors and chefs will be part of the family-friendly festival, where visitors can grab free commemorative posters and postcards by Herron School of Art and Design students. The Indy Arts Council, Indiana Sports Corp, Forty5 Presents, Ganggang, Epicurean Indy, and the Local Organizing Committee for the 2026 NCAA Men’s Final Four are putting on the celebrations. Events include:

Noon-6 p.m. each day: Live music performances by central Indiana musicians, dancers and spoken-word poets at Monument Circle, 1 Virginia Ave., PNC Plaza, Starbucks at 30 S. Meridian St. and sites to be announced
Sidewalk Galleries: Vinyl-wrapped storefront murals and poems as well as mural-wrapped traffic signal boxes and art installations at the Indianapolis International Airport
11 a.m.-4 p.m. April 4: Epicurean Market and MOKAO, with more than 50 vendors an international market with food, artisan coffee and chocolate. At the Stutz, 1060 N. Capitol Ave. epicureanindy.com
Sampson Levingston will lead walk and talk tours about college basketball history in downtown’s Mile Square. Reserve free tickets at tinyurl.com/3sdknyc9
March 27-April 4: The Asante Art Institute will present the play “A Touch of Glory” about the 1955 Crispus Attucks Tigers, the first all-black school in the country to win a high school basketball state championship. At the Basile Theatre at the Athenaeum, 401 E. Michigan St. $30-$45.

Final Four Fan Fest

April 3-6. Indiana Convention Center, 100 S. Capitol Ave. $10 tickets until March 29, $15 during event week. Tickets here and more info here.

The Indiana Convention Center will host games, activations, music, celebrity appearances and more throughout the Final Four extended weekend. Free entry for kids under 12 (with accompanying purchase of adult ticket), Final Four game ticketholders, military personnel, college students with valid school ID and Capital One cardholders.

April 3: noon-6 p.m.
April 4: 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
April 5: noon-6 p.m.
April 6: noon-8 p.m.

Final Four Friday

April 3, 10 a.m.-3:35 p.m. Lucas Oil Stadium, 500 S. Capitol Ave. Free entry. More info here.

Lucas Oil Stadium will open its doors for a USA Basketball 3×3 exhibition game Friday morning, followed by open practices from the Final Four teams. Final Four Friday will conclude with the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Star Game, featuring the top seniors in Division I basketball. All-Star players will also sign autographs at the South End of Lucas Oil near section 138.

March Madness Music Festival

April 3-5. American Legion Mall, 700 N. Pennsylvania St. Free entry. More info here.

Downtown’s American Legion Mall will host a three-day music festival with a lineup of major artists and performers. The festival will kick off April 3 with the AT&T Block Party, followed by Coca Cola Live April 4 and the Capital One JamFest finale April 5. Alternative duo Twenty One Pilots, country group Zac Brown Band and a double bill of country hip-hop superstar Post Malone and surging pop country star Megan Moroney will headline April 3, 4 and 5, respectively.

Check out the schedule below:

April 3: 4:30-10 p.m.
April 4: 3:30-10 p.m.
April 5: 2-10 p.m.

The NCAA has also announced a Madness After Dark event, which will feature a DJ set from EDM duo The Chainsmokers, to take place after the April 4 performances. The event will run from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. at the Indiana Rooftop Ballroom, located at 140 W. Washington St.

Men’s Final Four Dribble

April 5 at 1 p.m. Carroll Stadium (1001 W. New York St.) to Victory Field (501 W. Maryland St.). Free registration. Registration here and more info here.

Participants 18 and under will dribble a basketball along a one-mile course from IU Indianapolis’ Carroll Stadium to Victory Field. The first 3,000 to register will receive a t-shirt, basketball and free entry to the Final Four Fan Fest.

Men’s Final Four Tip-Off Tailgate

April 3-6. 126 E. Georgia St. Free entry. More info here.

Downtown Indianapolis will offer free watch parties for both the Men’s and Women’s Final Four along Georgia Street. The festivities will also include games, activations and giveaways.

April 3: 4-11 p.m.
April 4: 1-11 p.m.
April 5: noon-6 p.m.
April 6: 4-11 p.m.

Contact IndyStar Pop Culture Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X @hmb_1013.

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Indianapolis, IN

WRTV’s new owner promised more news. It fired the staff. | Opinion

Published

21 hours ago

April 2, 2026

Press Room

WRTV’s new owner promised more news. It fired the staff. | Opinion

Circle City Broadcasting promised to serve the public, then gutted a newsroom after the federal government gave it a pass to violate an antimonopoly law.

Circle City Broadcasting, the parent company of WISH-TV and WNDY-TV, closed on a deal to buy WRTV for $83 million earlier this week. The deal went through after the federal government gave it a pass to violate an antimonopoly rule, claiming it would serve the public interest.

Mass layoffs at WRTV immediately followed. That’s bad for local journalism and is not in the public interest of Indianapolis viewers.

Circle City can’t blame finances for the layoffs

Immediately after Circle City Broadcasting purchased WRTV, former staff members reported on social media that they were fired along with a large portion of the WRTV staff.

Kyle Mounce, a meteorologist, said “the staff at WRTV was shown the door today.” Chief Meteorologist Todd Klaassen confirmed “essentially the entire staff was let go.” Nico Pennisi, a downtown Indianapolis community reporter, and Nicole Griffin, an anchor, both confirmed on social media it was their last day at WRTV.

There’s no doubt that broadcast media is facing a crisis of shrinking ratings. That has led to financial issues, consolidation and layoffs in the past.

However, Circle City Broadcasting made it very clear in FCC filings one of its main reasons for purchasing WRTV was to use the ABC affiliate to access advertising revenue. WRTV is also a higher-ranked station in the Indianapolis media market than Circle City Broadcasting’s own WISH-TV or WNDY-TV.

If the station has higher ratings and more access to advertising revenue, there’s no legitimate financial reason for laying off staff.

If around a dozen physical and digital print media publications can find ways to innovate and sustain themselves in Indianapolis, despite technological advancements and without treating their employees like indentured servants, so can broadcast media.

Circle City Broadcasting’s anticompetitive behavior

In Circle City Broadcasting’s case, the consolidation and mass layoffs reflect a troubling pattern.

The company has forced WISH-TV employees to sign wildly restrictive non-compete clauses, banning them from working in nearly any form of media — including social media and podcasts — for a year after leaving the station.

While such clauses are legal for now, they aren’t moral or consistent with free-market economics. The Indiana General Assembly recently invalidated similar types of agreements between hospitals and physicians.

The exchange between Circle City Broadcasting and E.W. Scripps, the former owner of WRTV, furthered both companies’ efforts to secure local media monopolies.

E.W. Scripps sold WRTV to help fund the reacquisition of 23 ION-affiliated stations it divested in 2021 to comply with FCC ownership rules. The company said it will “seek waivers from the FCC to the extent such rules are still in effect.”

Local news monopolies aren’t in the public interest

Circle City Broadcasting said it is committed “to investing the resulting increased revenue into the Stations to deliver even greater local news, sports, and public affairs programming.”

The company’s actions contradict that commitment. Circle City Broadcasting may as well have just bought the naming rights to the station or secured an affiliation agreement with another large media company.

That could have helped grow local journalism. Instead, a part of it was destroyed.

Dujuan McCoy, owner of Circle City Broadcasting, in a statement responding to a post I made on X claimed “following our initial transition, WRTV-ABC will increase to more than 30 hours of live local news and entertainment programming per week — distinct and separate from the 90 hours of WISH-TV’s content that we currently air.”

That would be seven more hours per week than WRTV was broadcasting before, according to McCoy — but it’s not consistent with immediately laying off the station’s staff, and it’s unclear how he plans to deliver on that promise with a decimated newsroom. More newscasting doesn’t equate to more original local journalism.

The work of journalists — discovering new information, elevating community voices and bringing attention to hyperlocal issues that would otherwise not be heard — cannot be replaced.

Contact Jacob Stewart at 317-444-4683 or jacob.stewart@indystar.com. Follow him on X, Instagram and TikTok.

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Indianapolis, IN

IU to play Syracuse at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Published

1 day ago

April 1, 2026

Press Room

IU to play Syracuse at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — IU is set to play Syracuse at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on November 9, a source confirmed to WISH-TV Sports Director Anthony Calhoun.

Darian DeVries is heading into his second season as IU’s head coach. The Hoosiers went 18-14 in his first season at the helm.

IU and Syracuse last played in 2021, a game Syracuse won in double overtime.

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