35 years later, Bob Knight recalls undefeated 1976 Indiana Hoosiers

Today is the 35th anniversary of the last unbeaten team in college basketball. The 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers completed the feat on March 29, 1976 topping Michigan 86-68 for Bob Knight’s first national championship.

Kent Benson was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. This was also the first time in history that two teams from the same conference played in the title game.

This was the third national championship for Indiana at the time, and now one of the five banners that hang at Assembly Hall.

Today, Bob Knight was on ESPN to recall the historical team and championship. He provided an interesting take on the team’s goal for the season. It wasn’t to win a Big Ten title like usual. They set out to go undefeated.

“On the day before practice in that 1975-76 season, I had our team sit down and I told them this. Alright, there is a team that can win the Big Ten. There is a team that will win the NCAA. Neither one of those is our goal. Our goal this year is to play this season completely undefeated—from our opening game through the championship of the NCAA tournament. That’s what this team is capable of doing and I expect to do just that.”