Did our 76 team obsess over going undefeated?

[IU3]

I can't imagine Knight talked about it every single time a mic was put in front of his face like Cal did. Was it obsessed about? Did we hav t-shirts? Really curious about this. I'm sure our fans were obsessed w it like cal? When will UK stop this? They gonna talk about it next year? Have they ever heard of jinxing yourself?

 

[VanPastorMan]

Quinn Buckner said they didn't. Now I as a fan do. Will Cal refuse to come

to Indy in the future now that it is realized he just can't win in the state of Indiana?

This post was edited on 4/5 7:07 AM by VanPastorMan

 

[ncmac53]

It wasn't that big of a deal then. There had been undefeated seasons (UCLA) in 1967, 1972 and 1973. The 1975 IU team should have been undefeated, but for losing to Ky by two points in the regional final. It's nice that the 1976 team still stands as the last undefeated, because it brings attention to an amazing time in IU basketball--those 1974-75 and 1975-76 teams were the greatest ever.

 

[Spirito76]

No. After the '75 disappointment, there was tremendous motivation to win the NC in '76. Going undefeated came up but was not an obsession at all. Before '75 the primary goal & focus had been winning the Big Ten. Next year's Hoosiers should set their goals high -- very, very high.

 

[Rico6819]

As other posters mentioned it happened fairly regularly back then but it was a goal that they set at the beginning of that season. The fan base didn't obsess over it but it was something Knight continually pushed into their heads. And it worked.
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[iu1211]

It was a different time back then.

UCLA had their great run and it was not unusual for a team to flirt with an undefeated season.

 

[Coach Monte]

Depends on your definition of obsess. By every account, RMK told them in the first preseason meeting that the goal wasn't to win the Big 10 or even the national championship, that their goals was to go undefeated. I doubt the fans were as fixated on it as UK's were this year. At that point, it had been 22 years since IU's last championship and I think that's what they wanted the most...the 0 in the loss column was an added bonus.

 

[carriu]

I was a student and I remember Knight said win them all

or wasted the season. Once it was said everyone knew that was the goal