#1 - Tiny Milan upsets Muncie Central in the 1954 Indiana high school boys state championship basketball game. It was a true David vs. Goliath sports story that became the inspiration for the classic movie “Hoosiers,” arguably the greatest sports movie ever. Bobby Plump led the Milan High School basketball team that won the state championship in 1954, upsetting Muncie Central. Voted Mr. Basketball, he later was named by Sports Illustrated as one of the 50 greatest sports figures from Indiana in the 20th century.

 

#2 - Indiana University’s men’s basketball program is among the elite in the college game. The 1976 national championship team is the last team to finish the season without a loss. IU has won five national championships and produced 44 consensus first-team All-Americans.

 

#3 - The Indianapolis 500, “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” has had an overwhelming impact on the city, state and beyond. Three of the biggest names in 500 lore are drivers A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears, the only four-time winners of the race.

 

#4 - High school basketball is king in Indiana. Fans have flocked to games to see the great teams, coaches and players. More than 40,000 attended the 1990 state title game. Twelve of the largest 15 high school gyms are in Indiana, including the top five. Indiana’s famous single-class high school basketball tournament was discarded in 1998, in favor of a multiple-class setup. That created much controversy and meant the end of the dream of another Milan-type upset.

 

#5 - The Indianapolis Colts, relocating from Baltimore to Indianapolis in 1984, have appeared in the playoffs 16 times, won two conference championships and won one Super Bowl, defeating the Chicago Bears, 29-17, in Super Bowl XLI.

 

#6 - Bob Knight coaches Indiana University’s men’s basketball team to unprecedented heights. Nicknamed "The General,” Knight coached IU to three national championships, in 1976, 1981 and 1987. Overall, Knight won 902 NCAA Division I games, the most all-time at the time of his retirement.

 

#7 - Oscar Robertson led Crispus Attucks to two state high school basketball championships, breaking the color barrier. He went on to win three NCAA scoring titles with Cincinnati and is the only player to average a triple-double for a season in the NBA.

 

#8 - Notre Dame’s football program arguably is the historic face of college football. The Fighting Irish have won 11 consensus national titles, produced 33 unanimous All-Americans and a record seven Heisman Trophy winners. ND has the second-most victories in Division 1 football.

​

#9 - Peyton Manning’s impact on the Indianapolis Colts and the city. A five-time league MVP and one of the NFL’s all-time great quarterbacks, he played for the Colts for 14 seasons and led them to victory in Super Bowl XLI, defeating the Chicago Bears, 29-17.

 

#10 - Larry Bird, “The Hick from French Lick” was an All-American at Indiana State and then an NBA superstar with the Boston Celtics. Birds clash against Magic Johnson and Michigan State in the 1979 NCAA title game remains the all-time highest-rated college game.

 

#11 - Mark Spitz attended Indiana University to train with legendary IU swimming coach Doc Counsilman. Spitz won seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics, winning every event in world record time considered one of the greatest individual achievements in Olympic history.

 

#12 - Martinsville’s John Wooden was the first player to be named a three-time All-American while playing for Purdue University. He became known as the “Wizard of Westwood” for coaching UCLA to 10 NCAA titles in 12 years, including seven in a row.

 

#13 - Damon Bailey, a legend among the many greats to have played Indiana high school basketball. He led his Bedford-North Lawrence team to a state championship in front 40,000 fans in the then-Hoosier Dome and went on to have a successful career at Indiana University.

 

I#14 - Indiana University’s 1967 football team produced the school’s only trip to the Rose Bowl, where it lost to Southern California, 14-3. Known as the “Cardiac Kids,” IU was led by the terrific trio of QB Harry Gonso, WR Jade Butcher and RB John Isenbarger.

 

#15 - The ABA Indiana Pacers were the most successful team in league history, winning three championships in four years. In all, the Pacers appeared in the ABA finals five times in the league's nine-year history.

 

#16 - Butler University’s men’s basketball team advanced to back-to-back NCAA title games in 2010 and 2011. In the highest-rated championship game of the decade, Duke edged the Bulldogs 61-59 in the 2010 title showdown in Indianapolis.

 

#17 - Indiana Pacers reach the 2000 NBA Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers of the Western Conference took on the Pacers of the Eastern Conference for the title. The Lakers won the series 4 games to Reggie Miller played his entire 18-year NBA career with the Indiana Pacers. When he retired, he held the record for most career 3-point field goals made. Miller led the league in free throw accuracy five times. Considered by many the Pacers all-time greatest player.

 

#18 - Lebanon’s Rick Mount was the first high school athlete to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Noted for his deadly jump shot, “Rick the Rocket” became Purdue University’s and the Big Ten’s all-time leading scorer, scoring 2,323 points.

 

#19 - Tony Hinkle shaped Butler University's athletic tradition. For nearly half a century he was a teacher, coach and athletic administrator. From 1934 to 1970 he served as Butler's head coach in basketball, baseball and football. The university’s famed Hinkle Fieldhouse is named after him.

 

#20 - Knute Rockne’s biography at the College Football Hall of Fame identifies him as "without question, American football's most-renowned coach." His teams were 105-12-5 with five undefeated seasons and three national titles. Rockne was 43 when he died in a plane crash in 1931.

​

#21 - On January 19, 1974, Notre Dame’s men’s basketball team beat UCLA 71-70, to snap the Bruins streak of 88 consecutive victories. Coincidentally, that streak began after losing to Notre Dame exactly three years earlier on January 19, 1971.

 

#22 - PURDUE CRADLE of QB’S Drew Brees proved a lot of doubters wrong with his outstanding careers at Purdue University and in the NFL. After leading Purdue to the 2001 Rose Bowl, Brees has become one of the NFL’s greatest quarterbacks, leading New Orleans to a Super Bowl victory. Evansville’s Bob Griese was an All-American QB at Purdue University, leading the Boilermakers to a 14-13 victory over Southern California in the 1967 Rose Bowl. As a pro, he led the Miami Dolphins to three straight Super Bowls, including victories in 1972 and ’73.

 

#23 - Fort Wayne’s Rod Woodson was a two-time All-American at Purdue University before turning in a 17-year Hall of Fame career in the NFL. Woodson holds the NFL record for interceptions returned for a touchdown (12) and his 71 interceptions are third-most in NFL history.

 

#24 - The Zellers, the first family of Indiana high school basketball. Stars at Washington High School, Luke (Notre Dame), Tyler (North Carolina) and Cody (Indiana) all were nearly straight “A” students, all were voted Mr. Basketball and all won at least one state championship.

 

#25 - With basketball the king of sports in Indiana, Franklin High School’s team, nicknamed “the Wonder Five,” won three state titles in a row, 1920-22. Marion and Lawrence North have since pulled off the trifecta.

​

​