Just Announced: Hoosiers Out in Front in All-Time March Madness Voting

IU basketball fans might still be reeling from recent setbacks to the team’s hopes of winning an outright Big Ten title this season. But if it’s any consolation, they can spend a few moments today reveling in past glory.

This morning the NCAA announced early voting results in its campaign to have fans and experts select the “All-Time March Madness Players, Team, and Moment” of the past 75 years—and IU is very well represented.

Not surprisingly, the undefeated Hoosiers of 1975-76 are in the thick of the race to be declared the best-ever tournament team, alongside squads from North Carolina, Duke, and Kentucky.

And remarkably, among players, deadeye Steve Alford, of IU’s ’87 championship roster, joins such luminaries as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlin, Ervin “Magic” Johnson, Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, and Bill Russell, to name a few. One can only assume that aggressive voting by Hoosier Nation has something to do with Alford’s ranking thus far.

Isiah Thomas, of the Hoosiers’ ’81 championship team, lands on the list as well.

Also of note: “Magic versus Bird,” the legendary duel showcased in the 1979 championship, is one of five “most memorable moments” in the mix so far.

Online voting continues until March 24 at NCAA.com, and winners will be announced on April 5.