THE INDIANA HOOSIERS are having a exceptional run this school soccer season. They went 13-0 within the common season, staking their declare as the one undefeated group headed into the School Soccer Playoff.
Indiana kicked off the postseason by taking residence the Huge Ten championship versus Ohio State. They went on to defeat Alabama 38-3 within the Rose Bowl. The Hoosiers will subsequent face Oregon within the School Soccer Playoff semifinal on Jan. 9. To cap their streak of success, their quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, additionally turned the primary Hoosier to win the Heisman Trophy.
This latest interval of prosperity provides to Indiana’s storied legacy throughout highschool, collegiate, {and professional} sports activities. Solely time will inform if the Midwest state can declare one other championship in 2026.
Within the meantime, let’s replicate on significant milestones throughout Indiana sports activities groups, from the unique “Hoosiers” to Caitlin Clark, and every part in between.
Editor’s Picks
2 Associated
March 1954 — Milan Excessive College wins state basketball championship
On a last-second shot from senior guard Bobby Plump, Milan Excessive College defeated Muncie Central 32-30, cementing its place in Indiana basketball historical past and past. The underdog group ultimately impressed the beloved 1986 movie “Hoosiers.”
January 1968 — Indiana soccer reached the Rose Bowl
Earlier than the success of the present Indiana soccer group, there have been the 1967 Hoosiers, coached by John Pont. After getting into the season unranked, Indiana rose to No. 4 within the nation and performed within the Rose Bowl, the place the Hoosiers misplaced to USC 14-3.
Might 1973 — The Pacers win their third ABA championship
The Indiana Pacers turned essentially the most profitable franchise in ABA historical past after defeating the Kentucky Colonels 88-81 in Sport 7 of the ABA championship. In 1976, the Pacers had been one among 4 ABA groups that merged with the NBA.
March 1976 — An ideal season
In 1976, Bob Knight coached the Indiana males’s basketball group to a 32-0 report, culminating within the nationwide title with a win over Michigan. No Division I males’s basketball group has repeated the feat since.
Might 1977 — Janet Guthrie breaks limitations at Indianapolis 500
In 1977, Janet Guthrie turned the primary lady to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. Guthrie completed twenty ninth attributable to engine points. The following 12 months, Guthrie made historical past once more by ending ninth, the very best by a lady till Danica Patrick got here in fourth in 2005.
Janet Guthrie, now 87, is within the NASCAR Corridor of Fame and was honored in 2024 with the distinguished Landmark Award for Excellent Contributions, recognizing her pioneering profession. ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Name Group through Getty ImagesMarch 1979 — Larry Chook vs. Magic Johnson
When Larry Chook’s Indiana State confronted Magic Johnson’s Michigan State within the NCAA championship sport, the much-anticipated matchup resulted within the highest TV scores in faculty basketball historical past. It created the inspiration for an expanded NCAA match and ignited a rivalry between the 2 gamers that ultimately revitalized the NBA.
Larry Chook led the Indiana State Sycamores to the NCAA title sport in 1979. He is additionally the one individual to win NBA MVP, Coach of the 12 months, and Govt of the 12 months. Deal with Sport through Getty ImagesMarch 1984 — The NFL arrives in Indianapolis
After a stadium dispute with town, Baltimore Colts proprietor Robert Irsay secretly moved the group to Indianapolis in the course of the night time, packing up the group in over a dozen shifting vehicles. In a swift flip of occasions, the Baltimore Colts at the moment are the Indianapolis Colts.
October 1993 — “Rudy” releases in Theaters
Primarily based on the lifetime of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, a scrappy walk-on who dreamed of taking part in soccer for Notre Dame, the inspiring film starring Sean Astin as Rudy turned an instantaneous underdog traditional.
Might 1995 — Reggie Miller’s 8 factors in 9 seconds
A flurry of factors from Reggie Miller surprised the New York Knicks in Sport 1 of the Japanese Convention semifinals at Madison Sq. Backyard. Trailing 105-99 with 18.7 seconds remaining, Miller hit two 3-pointers and two free throws to steal a 107-105 win for Indiana.
April 1998 — Colts draft Peyton Manning
It was the start of an period. In 1998, the Colts chosen quarterback Peyton Manning out of Tennessee with the No. 1 decide. The face of Indianapolis soccer for over a decade, Manning gained a Tremendous Bowl with the Colts and have become the primary participant to be named MVP 4 instances (2003, 2004, 2008, 2009).
Peyton Manning left an enduring legacy in Indiana, significantly with the Peyton Manning Youngsters’s Hospital. He turned an “adopted Hoosier,” making soccer a central a part of Indiana’s sports activities identification throughout his 14 seasons with the Colts. Jed Jacobsohn/Getty ImagesFebruary 2007 — Indianapolis Colts win Tremendous Bowl XLI
Greater than 20 years after Robert Irsay relocated the group, the Indianapolis Colts gained their first Tremendous Bowl. Tremendous Bowl MVP Peyton Manning led the Colts to a 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears.
March 2010 & 2011 — Cinderella runs for Butler males’s basketball
Between 2010 and 2011, coach Brad Stevens led Butler College, a faculty with fewer than 5,000 college students, to back-to-back Ultimate 4 runs. Within the championship sport in opposition to Duke in 2010, Gordon Hayward’s determined half-court heave hit the rim, authoring one among sports activities’ biggest “what-ifs.”
October 2012 — Indiana Fever win first franchise title
Anchored by Corridor of Famer Tamika Catchings, the Indiana Fever persevered in opposition to the defending champs, the Minnesota Lynx, profitable the sequence 3-1.
December 2012 — Indiana Hoosiers males’s soccer group wins eighth NCAA title
Indiana defeated Georgetown 1-0 to win its eighth nationwide championship. The Hoosiers have the second-most nationwide championships in males’s DI soccer.
June 2013 — Indiana Hoosiers baseball clinches first CWS berth
The Hoosiers baseball group swept powerhouse Florida State within the Tremendous Regional. Indiana earned its first journey to the School World Sequence.
April 2018 — Arike Ogunbowale’s buzzer-beater
Notre Dame girls’s basketball prevailed over Mississippi State within the nationwide title sport on Arike Ogunbowale’s electrical buzzer-beater, her second of the match. Ogunbowale, who was named Most Excellent Participant, additionally hit the winner within the Ultimate 4 in opposition to UConn.
Arike Ogunbowale was drafted fifth by the Dallas Wings within the 2019 WNBA Draft out of Notre Dame. Andy Lyons/Getty ImagesMarch 2021 — Indiana hosts the 2021 NCAA males’s basketball match
For the primary time in NCAA Division I males’s basketball historical past, one metropolis hosted your complete March Insanity match attributable to COVID-19-related laws. The video games had been held in a bubble-like format across the Indianapolis space. The Baylor Bears defeated the Gonzaga Bulldogs within the championship sport at Lucas Oil Stadium.
April 2024 — Indiana Fever choose Caitlin Clark with No. 1 decide
Recent off one other record-breaking 12 months at Iowa, Caitlin Clark goes No. 1 within the 2024 WNBA draft. The face of girls’s faculty basketball, Clark concluded her collegiate profession with 3,951 factors, essentially the most in males’s and ladies’s Division I historical past. Armed with two consecutive No. 1 draft picks (the Fever chosen Aliyah Boston the 12 months earlier than), Clark’s arrival introduced hope to a basketball state whose final Finals look was in 2012.
Caitlin Clark been out since struggling a proper groin sprain in July. She performed in 13 WNBA video games in 2025. Brian Babineau/NBAE through Getty ImagesAugust 2024 — Cole Hocker units 1500-meter Olympic report
The 23-year-old Indianapolis native surprised observe and area followers within the Paris Olympics when he surged previous heavy favorites Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen on the homestretch to interrupt the 1500-meter Olympic report in 3:27.65.
June 2025 — Pacers attain NBA Finals
After a 10-15 begin to the season, the fourth-seeded Pacers clawed their approach by the playoffs and into the Finals for the primary time in 25 years. Tyrese Haliburton’s late-game heroics resulted in Sport 7 in opposition to the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder when the guard tore his proper Achilles tendon within the first quarter. The Pacers in the end fell to the Thunder 103-91.
Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn proper Achilles tendon in Sport 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals in opposition to the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder, an damage that ended his season and can sideline him at some stage in the 2025-26 NBA season, in response to ESPN studies. Dylan Buell/Getty ImagesOctober 2025 — Fever rally in playoffs
Regardless of accidents to key gamers, together with Caitlin Clark and Sydney Colson, the 24-20 Fever surged to a winner-take-all semifinal sport in opposition to the Las Vegas Aces, who went on to win the championship.
December 2025 — Fernando Mendoza wins Heisman
After main the Hoosiers to a 13-0 report and the No. 1 seed within the School Soccer Playoff, quarterback Fernando Mendoza is awarded the Heisman Trophy, the primary in program historical past. Coming into the playoffs, Mendoza led the nation in passing touchdowns (33) and was second in quarterback ranking (181.39).
Mendoza claimed 2,362 factors, together with 643 first-place votes, for his Heisman win. He beat Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia (1,435 factors), Notre Dame operating again Jeremiyah Love (719 factors), and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (432 factors). Daniel Kucin Jr./ISI Photographs/ISI Photographs through Getty Pictures
Louisa Frahm, Gueorgui Milkov and Alonzo Olmedo contributed to this story.