The 1975–76 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team represented

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

and were the winners of the NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, the school's third national championship. The Hoosiers included three All-Americans and were led by head coach

Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retire ...

, in his fifth year, to an undefeated 32–0 record. The team played its home games in

Assembly Hall An assembly hall is a hall to hold public meetings or meetings of an organization such as a school, church, or deliberative assembly. An example of the last case is the Assembly Hall (Washington, Mississippi) where the general assembly of the s ...

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...

, and was a member of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. They remain, as of the 2024–25 season, the last team to be undefeated National Champions.

Roster

The team manager was Chuck Swenson.

Regular season

After coming up just short of winning a national championship the season before ( 1974–75), when they lost to Kentucky in the tournament, the 1975–76 team got off to a hot start. Starters Scott May,

Quinn Buckner William Quinn Buckner (born August 20, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played collegiate basketball for the Indiana University Hoosiers, and won a national championship in 1976. He was a captain of both ...

Bobby Wilkerson Robert Lee Wilkerson (born August 15, 1954) is a retired American professional basketball player. A 6'6" guard/ forward born in Anderson, Indiana, Wilkerson attended Indiana University, where he was a member of the Hoosiers' 1976 NCAA Champio ...

and

Kent Benson Michael Kent Benson (born December 27, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player. He was a two-time All-American for the Indiana Hoosiers, winning the 1976 Helms Foundation Player of the Year and helping lead the Hoosiers to the ...

returned. Head coach

Bobby Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement and sixth all- ...

, then in his fifth year at Indiana, moved senior Tom Abernethy into Steve Green's starting role. Guard Bobby Wilkerson was an unsung hero who could do a little bit of everything. The team entered the season ranked No. 1. In a preseason exhibition game against the reigning World Champion, the Soviet National team, the Hoosiers won by a convincing 94–78 margin. The Soviet team included two stars from their gold medal team in 1972, Aleksandr Belov and Sergei Belov. The game was played before a sellout crowd of 17,377 at the new (now-defunct)

Market Square Arena Market Square Arena (MSA) was an indoor arena in Indianapolis. Completed in 1974, at a cost of $23 million, it seated 16,530 for basketball and 15,993 for ice hockey. Seating capacity for concerts and other events was adjusted by the use of larg ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. Star Scott May scored 34 points on 13-for-15 shooting. The Hoosiers then opened the season with an 84–64 win over the reigning NCAA National Champion,

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, which was coached by

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, nati ...

's successor

Gene Bartow Bobby Gene Bartow (August 18, 1930 January 3, 2012) was an American men's college basketball coach. The Browning, Missouri, native coached 36 years at six universities after coaching two high schools in Missouri for six years. In 1972 Bartow coa ...

. The game was played in

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as one of the first made-for-TV games in college history, with the starting time at 11 p.m. for maximum national airing. May scored 33 points. The Hoosiers returned to Market Square Arena to play

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. The Seminoles' head coach,

Hugh Durham Hugh Nelson Durham (born October 26, 1937) is a retired American basketball coach. He was head coach at Florida State, Georgia, and Jacksonville. He is the only head coach to have led two different programs to their first Final Four appearances. ...

, said before the game: "They beat Russia to prove they're the best in the world. And they beat UCLA to prove they're the best in the United States. Now I'd like to see them prove they're human and have a bad game." At halftime Indiana led 47–20 and they would go on to win 83–59. May scored 24 points and Kent Benson added 22. Afterward Durham said, "I'm glad this isn't like baseball. I'd hate to play these guys in a three-game homestand." The Hoosiers ended the regular season unbeaten, a feat that would be accomplished only seven times since, by

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend" Bird is widely regarded a ...

-led 1979 Indiana State Sycamores, the 1979 Alcorn State Braves, the 1991 UNLV Runnin' Rebels, the 2004 St. Joseph's Hawks, the 2014 Wichita State Shockers, the 2015 Kentucky Wildcats, and the 2021 Gonzaga Bulldogs. All but Alcorn State and St. Joseph's would enter the NCAA Tournament unbeaten. Indiana is the last team to go unbeaten through the entire season, through preconference and conference seasons, and also finish unbeaten winning the NCAA Tournament. That mark has stood since 1976, though the number of games required to maintain an unbeaten season has increased in present times, making it more difficult to attain. The Hoosiers also had the distinction of having all five regular starting players earn their NBA pension.

Schedule

, - !colspan=8 style=, Regular Season , - , - !colspan=8 style=, NCAA Tournament

NCAA tournament

Entering the NCAA Tournament the No. 1 ranked Hoosiers ended up with a difficult route for a No. 1 ranked team. The route included a regional matchup of No. 1 and No. 2 Marquette and convinced the NCAA Tournament Committee to begin seeding the tournament. In the first game Indiana beat No. 18 St. John's 90–70. Scott May scored 33 points over a 23–6 team that had been unbeaten before Indiana beat them in December before a college-record

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

crowd of 19,964. In the next game Indiana beat No. 7

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

74–69 behind the play of Scott May (25 points, 16 rebounds). Alabama led 69–68 when May hit a jump shot with 2:02 left. At the time, Coach Knight called this Alabama team the best any of his teams ever played. Against No. 2 Marquette, the Hoosiers won 65–56. Marquette coach,

Al McGuire Alfred James McGuire (September 7, 1928 – January 26, 2001) was an American college basketball coach and broadcaster, the head coach at Marquette University from 1964 to 1977. He won a national championship in his final season at Marquette, an ...

, attempted to contain May by using a box-and-one defense. May scored 15 points but sat out 13 minutes with foul problems. Marquette was 27–2 on the year and would go on to win the NCAA championship the following season. In the next game the Hoosiers once again faced the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

, who entered the game ranked No. 5 with a 27–3 record. The Hoosiers won 65–51 behind 19 rebounds from 6′7″ guard

and strong play from Tom Abernethy. In the championship game, Indiana squared off against No. 9

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

for the third match up between the teams that season. After Indiana lost Wilkerson early to a concussion, Michigan led at half-time, 35–29. The Hoosiers ultimately prevailed 86–68. May had 26 points, Buckner 16, and Outstanding Player Award-winner Benson had 25. Indiana finished the season with a 32–0 record, and since 1976 no men's

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

team has gone unbeaten the whole season.

Awards and honors

, NCAA Men's MOP Award *Bob Knight, Big Ten Coach of the Year * Scott May,

National Player of the Year National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

*Scott May, Big Ten Player of the Year

Team players drafted into the NBA

References

External links

1975-1976 Indiana University Basketball Team photo
(Indiana University Archives) {{DEFAULTSORT:1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...