Big Ten focus #7 - Indiana

 This week I examine Indiana University.  They were not a founding member of the conference, joining with Iowa in 1899.  Indiana is of course better known as a basketball power; in fact, has the best record among all member schools in basketball.  As a football team, they are not a "power".  They have the worst bowl record of all Big Ten teams (23%) and has won the conference only twice: an outright title in 1945 and a share with Minnesota and Purdue in 1967.

Their current football stadium, Memorial Stadium, is actually the second facility to have that name on their campus.  The first Memorial Stadium was established in 1925.  It featured some of the better years of the Hoosiers football history, but was confined in its location and could not be expanded when college football was gaining popularity in the 1960s.  Thus, a secondary stadium on the campus was expanded and became the new Memorial Stadium.  The old stadium served one final purpose before it was demolished in 1981 -- serving as the site for the bicycle racing scenes in the film Breaking Away.

Indiana did not produce too many players who make significant impact in the pros, but there are a few.  Most played in the late 1940s and 1950s, but the more modern age has seen some prominent Hoosiers.  Dominant defender Adewale Ogunleye was a Hooier, as was long-time All-Pro guard Kris Dielman.  Journeyman QB Trent Green was a two-year starter for the Hoosiers, and former Hoosier QB Antwaan Randle-El was a key player for the Pittsburgh Steelers when he switched to wide receiver.

For ESPN fans, perhaps the greatest legacy of Indiana is the tenure of their own Coach Lee Corso, who coached the Hoosiers from 1973 through 1982.  Corso did not find the same level of success he had as Louisville's head coach, but he did lead the Hoosiers to a winning season in 1979.  They played unbeaten BYU in the Holiday Bowl and pulled off the surprise upset, destroying the Cougars chances for a national championship and propelling the Hoosiers to their first AP Top 25 ranking since 1967.

Ironically, another iconic coach took over the Hoosiers right after Lee Corso.  In 1983, Indiana was coached by a person who came from an assistant coaching position under San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh.  Sam Wyche only coached the Hoosiers that one year, as he jumped ship when he was offered the head coaching position for the Cincinnati Bengals, who he successfully coached for eight years, taking the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 1989.