The 1985–86 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team represented

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

. Their head coach was

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- ...

, who was in his 15th year. 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 ...

. The Hoosiers finished the regular season with an overall record of 21–8 and a conference record of 13–5, finishing 2nd in the Big Ten Conference. IU was invited to participate in the 1986 NCAA tournament as a 3-seed; however, IU made a quick exit with a first-round loss to 14-seed

Cleveland State Cleveland State University (CSU) is a Public university, public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school th ...

. The season was memorialized and popularized by '' A Season on the Brink'', a 1986 book by

John Feinstein John Feinstein ( ; July 28, 1955 – March 13, 2025) was an American sportswriter, author, and sports commentator. Background Feinstein was born to a Jewish family in New York City on July 28, 1955. His father was heavily involved in the arts, ...

. For the book, Bobby Knight granted almost unprecedented access to his team, as well as insights into his private life. The book was well received and is often referred to as "the bestselling sports book of all time." The book and season was later dramatized in a two-hour, made-for-

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

movie of the same name that first aired in the spring of 2002.

Roster

Schedule/Results

, - !colspan=8, Regular Season , - , - !colspan=8, NCAA tournament

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1985-86 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

1985 in sports in Indiana 1986 in sports in Indiana