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Indiana University's athletic teams are called the Hoosiers, and their colors are crimson and cream, though red and white has been used at times in the past. From its humble beginnings with baseball in 1867, the Hoosier athletic program has grown to include over 600 male and female student-athletes on 24 varsity teams boasting one of the nation's best overall records. Sports sponsored by the university include football, men's basketball, women's basketball, cross country and track, baseball, golf, tennis, rowing, volleyball, and more.

The Hoosiers became a member of the prestigious Big Ten Conference on December 1, 1899. The school's national affiliation is with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). National team titles (now totaling 25; 24 NCAA, 1 AIAW) have been won in six men's sports and one women's sport, topped by a record-setting six straight men's swimming & diving titles, seven men's soccer crowns and five titles in men's basketball. Indiana student-athletes have won 133 NCAA individual titles. Most recently, Sports Illustrated on Campus rated Bloomington the No. 6 sports town in the nation.

Over the last decade more than 90 percent of Indiana University student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility have earned their degree. Indiana University student-athletes have been named to the Academic All-Big Ten squad 2,280 times. Overall, IU student athletes have won more than 3,000 academic awards. Additionally, the Indiana men’s basketball team is ranked 23rd in the Student-Athlete Performance Rate, a new national academic study developed to determine top schools on the field and in the classroom, it was announced in August of 2005.

Administration

The IU Director of Athletics is Rick Greenspan. The IU athletics endowment is $42 million, the largest in the Big Ten Conference. The Varisty Club, which is the fund-raising arm of the Athletics Department, drew a record $11.5 million in gifts and pledges in fiscal 2004-05. In addition, overall annual giving has increased 8.3% in the last year and 44.8 percent in the last three years.

In spite of this giving, IU's athletics department has been unable to balance its budget. Because of this the university administration has attempted, thus far unsuccessfully, to double the athletics fee which students pay with their tuition each semester. A number of students argue that the athletics department's financial woes are its own problems, and that support of athletics should be voluntary. Others, especially in the athletics department, argue that athletic programs are an integral part of the university experience, and therefore everyone should pay into it.

Basketball

Men's basketball

The baskeball teams currently play on the Branch McCracken Court in Assembly Hall (Bloomington) in Bloomington, Indiana.

The tradition of college basketball excellence that reigns at Indiana University can only be matched by a handful of other elite programs, while the fierce devotion of IU basketball fans has been selling out arenas and inspiring generation after generation of Hoosier fans for over a century. The Hoosiers have been ranked in the top 10 nationally in attendance 30 seasons since 1972.

As of 2005, the school has won five championships in men's basketball (1940, 1953, 1976, 1981 and 1987), the first two under coach Branch McCracken and three under Bobby Knight. The Hoosiers' five NCAA Championships are the third-most in history. Their eight trips to the Final Four ranks seventh on the alltime list. The Hoosiers have made the trip to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament 32 times, fifth in NCAA history. In those 32 appearances Indiana has posted 52 victories, the sixth-most in NCAA history. To date, Indiana University is the last men's college basketball team to go undefeated, posting a 32-0 record in 1976.

Men's basketball at IUB grew phenomenally popular under Coach Knight, especially in 1975-76 when he led the team which remains the last men's Division I squad to go undefeated for an entire season. Knight's volatile temper, though, often brought as much controversy to the school as success, and eventually led to his dismissal in 2000 by then-University President Myles Brand. (See Knight's wikipedia entry for more details).

Students and alumni protested the Knight firing, and several players threatened to transfer unless Knight assistant Mike Davis was chosen to replace Knight; Davis ultimately got the job and took the team to the 2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship title game. After initial success, Davis struggled and was given an ultimatum to improve his team in the 2005-06 season or be fired. On February 15, 2006, Davis announced he would resign but remain with the team for the rest of the 2006 season. On March 28, 2006, Kelvin Sampson, formerly a coach at the University of Oklahoma, was then named the successor.

Women's basketball

Indiana women's basketball began in 1975. In the previous 28 seasons, IU has compiled a record of 227-101 for an average of 8.1 wins to 3.6 losses a year and an overall winning percentage of .692. The women's team has entered the NCAA tournament three times.

Football

IU began playing football in 1884. Built in 1960, the massive 52,180-seat, open-air Memorial Stadium is home to the IU Hoosiers football team. There have been many renovations since the original construction, including the replacement of wooden seats with aluminum, installation of sound and lighting systems, and laying of Astroturf in 1986, which was subsequently replaced with natural grass in 1998.

The Hoosiers are coached by Terry Hoeppner, whose first season heading the team was in 2005. Although the Hoosiers football team has struggled in recent years, it has a prior record of moderate success, as evidenced by the following bowl game appearances.

Indiana's most successful football coaches were Bill Mallory and Bo McMillin.

Terry Hoeppner is bringing hope to Bloomington after leading the Hoosiers to 4 wins in 2005.

Soccer

The Hoosiers have won seven national championships in men's soccer: 1982, '83, '88, '98, '99, 2003 and 2004 - the first six teams led by coach Jerry Yeagley. Sixtime National Coach of the Year Jerry Yeagley turned the Hoosier program into the most storied in college sports. After leading the Hoosiers for 31 years, Yeagley retired after the 2003 season and turned the reins over to long time assistant and former Hoosier All-American, Mike Freitag. He was an assistant to Yeagley for 11 seasons before taking over the head job. Freitag did not skip a beat adding the program's seventh national title in his inaugural year in 2004. It marked the third occasion in which IU had won back-to-back national titles and it was the program's record 17th appearance in the College Cup.

In their third decade of varsity competition, the Hoosiers are one of the most storied traditions in all of collegiate athletics. In the program's 32 seasons, Indiana owns more wins (563), has appeared in more College Cups (17) and has a higher winning percentage in both regular season (.821) and post-season play (.768) than any other school in Division I soccer. It's last NCAA Title came in 2004-2005 when it beat UC Santa Barbara in penalty kicks 1-1 (3-2 PK's).

Three of Yeagley's NCAA titles happened during the 1980s, giving the Hoosiers a number of other impressive credentials to earn the title of "Team of the 1980s." During that span Indiana appeared in six College Cups, recorded 182 wins, posted a .813 winning percentage (182-35-18), and boasted a 22-6 (.786) mark during NCAA Tournament play. All of those accomplishments were NCAA soccer bests.

In addition to being a six-time National Coach of the Year, Yeagley also was the recipient of the prestigious Bill Jeffery Award, in recognition of his outstanding and unique contributions to intercollegiate soccer. In 1989, Yeagley was inducted into the United States Soccer Federation Hall of Fame, the highest honor a collegiate soccer coach can receive.

The honors have been reaped by IU players as well. Five Hermann Trophy winners (including Ken Snow twice), three Missouri Athletic Club Players of the Year, one M.A.C. Hermann Trophy winner (the M.A.C Player of the Year and Hermann Trophy were combined into one award prior to the 2002 season), 13 National Team players, six Olympians and six World Cup players have donned the Cream and Crimson. In addition, Hoosier players have earned All-America honors 52 times.

The Hoosier soccer team has remained incredibly popular among the student body as well. Every year since the NCAA began tracking men's soccer attendance in 2001, the IU program has ranked among the top three in at least one of the two categories (average attendance and total attendance) and has never ranked lower than sixth in any category. Indiana led the nation in average attendance in 2004 and 2005 and in total attendance in 2003.

Swimming & Diving

When people talk about dynasties in college athletics the Indiana Men's Swimming & Diving program is often at the front of the line. Few schools in the country have the tradition that Indiana has in men's swimming and diving.

Six straight NCAA Championships in the midst of 20 consecutive Big Ten titles and 140 dual meet victories in a row are just some of the impressive stats that create the mystique of Indiana Men’s Swimming & Diving. The Hoosiers' six consecutive men's swimming and diving titles came between 1968 and 1973 under the tutelage of James Counsilman. A writer for Sports Illustrated in the early '70's said, "a good case can be made for the 1971 Indiana swimming team being the best college team ever--in any sport." * At the present time no collegiate program in Division I history has won more consecutive swimming titles than the 1968-73 Hoosiers.

The Hoosiers have won the fifth-most NCAA Championships and their 23 Big Ten crowns ranks second in the conference's 90-year history. Indiana University has produced 79 individual swimming & diving champions, 191 Big Ten swimming champions, 24 conference diving champions and has won 45 Big Ten relay events. The 79 national champions ranks third among Big Ten schools while the individual Big Ten diving, relay and individual swimming crowns all rank second among the 11 conference schools. The success goes well beyond the Big Ten and the NCAA Championship as is evidenced by the eight straight U.S. National Diving Championships that Indiana divers have won.

In March 2006 the Hoosiers won the Big Ten title again, this time under the coaching of Ray Looze and Jeff Huber.

The Counsilman-Billingsley Center in the Student Recreational Sports Center is a 44,651 square foot aquatics center used by Indiana's varsity swimming and diving programs. It features an eight-lane Olympic-sized pool spanning 30,512 square feet with depth ranging from seven to eight feet to allow for greater speed. The Billingsley Diving Center, complete with one of the country's few indoor diving towers, features two one-meter and three-meter springboards as well as one-, three-, five-, seven- and 10-meter platforms.

Cross Country

Men's cross country

Men's cross country began on the IU campus in 1910. Since the inception of cross country as an NCAA sport, Indiana is one of only nine schools in the nation to have won more than two men's national titles, and is one of seven programs to win at least three national titles. The school's three team national titles came in 1938, 1940, and 1942. IU's 29 NCAA men's championship team appearances are tied for ninth-most in the sport’s history. Indiana has found itself in the top five at the NCAA Men's Championship on nine different occasions. A Hoosier has captured the men's individual crown three times, making Indiana one of only six schools in the country, and the only Big Ten school, to have more than two individual NCAA men's cross country champions. The three individual titles rank as the fourth-most by any school.

Women's cross country

Women's cross country began in Bloomington in 1978. The NCAA began sponsoring the sport in 1981. The women have had a pair of individual national champions, something only three other schools in the nation, and just one other in the Big Ten, can claim. On four occasions, the Hoosiers have competed for the NCAA crown as a team (1988, 89, 90, 2002). The 1988 season saw Indiana winning an individual men's and women's national cross country championship, a feat that had never happened before in the sport, and has never happened since.

Little 500 Bike Race

See main article Little 500
What began as one man's idea of a bicycle race to raise scholarship money has become the premier intramural collegiate cycling event in the nation and a true IU springtime tradition. The Little 500, which was first held in 1951, inspired the 1979 Academy Award-winning film Breaking Away. Sports Illustrated and USA Today have featured the race in their pages, and it has been covered on national television by CBS, ESPN, Fox Sports, the Outdoor Life Channel, and live in high-definition television by HDNet. Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong called the Little 500, which has raised more than $1 million in scholarship money, "the coolest event I ever attended." *

Olympic Participation

Indiana student-athletes also have excelled in every Olympic Games competition since Los Angeles hosted in 1932. The Hoosier Olympic gold medalists, especially in swimming & diving, read like a Who's-Who for their respective sports. One Indiana gold medalist stands out, Mark Spitz, who captured a remarkable seven swimming gold medals in seven world record times at the 1972 Games in Munich, a record that has never been matched. A total of 167 IU athletes have competed in the Olympics, and these individuals have represented 14 nations. On 12 occasions, Olympic coaches have come from IU. The IU medal count is 84 including 48 gold, 16 silver and 20 bronze. Prior to the 2004 Olympics, at least one IU athlete had medaled at every Summer Olympics since 1932.

Championships

NCAA team championships

  • Men's Soccer (7): 1982 · 1983 · 1988 · 1998 · 1999 · 2003 · 2004
  • Men's Swimming & Diving (6): 1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973
  • Men's Basketball (5): 1940 · 1953 · 1976 · 1981 · 1987
  • Men's Cross Country (3): 1938 · 1940 · 1942
  • Men's Outdoor Track & Field (1): 1932
  • Wrestling (1): 1932

NCAA individual champions

  • Men's Swimming & Diving (79)
  • Men's Outdoor Track & Field (21)
  • Wrestling (10)
  • Men's Indoor Track & Field (10)
  • Men's Cross Country (3)
  • Women's Cross Country (2)
  • Women's Indoor Track & Field (2)
  • Men's Gymnastics (1)
  • Women's Swimming & Diving (3)
  • Women's Outdoor Track & Field (2)

Big Ten championships

  • Men's Swimming & Diving (23): 1961 · 1962 · 1963 · 1964 · 1965 · 1966 · 1967 · 1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1980 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 2006
  • Men's Basketball (20): 1926(co) · 1928(co) · 1936(co) · 1953 · 1954 · 1957(co) · 1958 · 1967 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1980 · 1981 · 1983 · 1987(co) · 1989 · 1991(co) · 1993 · 2002
  • Men's Indoor Track & Field (15): 1932 · 1933 · 1941 · 1957 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1979 · 1980 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992
  • Women's Tennis (13): 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1998
  • Men's Cross Country (13): 1928 · 1929 · 1930 · 1931 · 1932 · 1938 · 1940 · 1942 · 1946(co) · 1967 · 1972 · 1973 · 1980(co)
  • Men's Outdoor Track & Field (12): 1936 · 1941 · 1950 · 1957 · 1970 · 1971 · 1973 · 1974 · 1979 · 1985 · 1990 · 1991
  • Wrestling (12): 1914 · 1921 · 1924(co) · 1925(co) · 1931 · 1932(co) · 1933 · 1934 · 1936 · 1939 · 1940 · 1943
  • Men's Soccer (10): 1991 · 1992 · 1994 · 1995(co) · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2001 · 2003
  • Men's Golf (8): 1962 · 1968 · 1970 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1991 · 1998
  • Women's Golf (7): 1986 · 1987 · 1990 · 1992 · 1995 · 1996 · 1998
  • Men's Tennis (5): 1921 · 1952 · 1953 · 1954 · 1964
  • Baseball (4): 1925 · 1932 · 1938(co) · 1949(co)
  • Softball (3): 1983 · 1986 · 1994
  • Women's Indoor Track & Field (3): 1988 · 1991 · 2000
  • Football (2): 1945 · 1967(co)
  • Women's Cross Country (2): 1989 · 1990
  • Women's Outdoor Track & Field (2): 2000 · 2001
  • Women's Basketball (1): 1983(co)
  • Women's Soccer (1): 1996
  • Women's Swimming & Diving (1): 2003

Notable alumni and former athletes

Basketball

Football

Soccer

Swimming & Diving

Baseball

Track & Field

External links

College athletic programs | Big Ten Conference | Indiana Hoosiers football | Indiana University | Indiana Hoosiers basketball | University and college sports clubs

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Indiana Hoosiers".

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