Ranking Indiana's Five Championship Seasons.

#3. 1986-87:

The '87 season was the last of Indiana's National Championships. All five starters from this team were NBA draft picks. Led by All-Big Ten and All-American guard Steve Alford, the Hoosiers went 15-3 in conference play. Indiana earned the #1 seed in the Midwest after winning the Big Ten regular season title.

That number one seed came with a bit of luck. Indiana needed Michigan to beat Purdue, and they needed to beat Ohio State to become Big-Ten Co-Champions, splitting the title with the Boilermakers. Their reward for being the top seed in the Midwest Region were two games in the old Hoosier Dome, practically a home game for IU.

After a smooth road to the Elite Eight, the Hoosiers needed a rebound and put back by junior forward Rick Calloway. Indiana then fought off UNLV and Freddie Banks' Final Four record ten three pointers to defeat the Runnin' Rebels 97-93. Keith Smart's clutch shooting led the Hoosiers over Derrick Coleman, Sherman Douglass, and the Syracuse Orange.

What was most impressive about this team was how it played late in games. Bobby Knight touted this. "The greatness in this team," coach Bob Knight said, "may be the greatness no other team here has had, to the degree that this one did – almost a total resolve not to recognize or be a part of defeat. This team played the last five minutes of critical games as well as I've ever seen a team play.