Derek Schultz: Chiefs competition?

For the third year in a row, the Kansas City Chiefs are in the Super Bowl. Even if you’re one of the many football fans suffering from red-and-gold fatigue thanks to Patrick Mahomes getting calls, Taylor Swift camera shots from the luxury box and Travis Kelce being Travis Kelce, you can’t deny Kansas City’s dominance over the past five seasons.

Only three franchises have previously appeared in three-straight Super Bowls—the 1971-1973 Dolphins, 1990-1993 Bills and 2016-2018 Patriots—but none has had the opportunity the Chiefs have this Sunday to pull off a historic three-peat, a first for the Super Bowl era.

Even with a loss to the Eagles, the Chiefs are cemented as a sports dynasty by virtue of making five Super Bowls in six years and winning (at least) three titles. In college and professional sports history, the state of Indiana hasn’t produced many dynasties, but several teams have had notable runs. Some include multiple championships in their respective leagues over short periods. In light of the Chiefs’ chance at NFL immortality, here are some of Indiana’s most noteworthy eras.

(Author’s note: I limited the selection to college and pro sports, choosing not to include high school teams for the likelihood of accidentally leaving someone out—and for brevity’s sake). Notre Dame football was also excluded. While the university is obviously in Indiana, I have always felt like it is viewed by most, especially outside the state, as an independent entity. That might be a subjective take, but, hey, it’s my column, and I made my own rules.)

1968-1973 Indiana Pacers

This is unquestionably the greatest and perhaps only true dynasty in Indiana’s major professional or college sports history. In a span bridging a turbulent time for the country, the Pacers consistently dominated the American Basketball Association, appearing in the ABA Finals four times while capturing three championships, the most for any franchise in that league’s nine-year (1967-1976) existence. Adding up the rings and the victories, the ABA Pacers had the winningest team, the league’s greatest coach (Bobby “Slick” Leonard) and three of its greatest players in Mel Daniels, George McGinnis and Roger Brown.

While it took decades for the ABA and its star players to get the credit they deserved, Leonard, Daniels, Brown and McGinnis were each enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in the 2010s, further solidifying the Pacers’ dynasty as one of the best in pro basketball history—the NBA included.

1972-1976 Indiana University men’s basketball

Unlike every single one of his successors, Bob Knight didn’t need much time to get things rolling in Bloomington. From 1972-1976—Knight’s second through fifth seasons at the helm with the Hoosiers—Indiana won 118 of its 130 games, took home four straight Big Ten championships, earned two Final Four appearances, and captured the program’s third national championship.

IU likely would have put together back-to-back undefeated seasons in 1975 and 1976, if not for Scott May’s broken arm late in the 1975 season. Those two squads were the best teams from The General’s legendary tenure. No Division I NCAA men’s basketball champion has gone unblemished in the 50 seasons since the ’76 Hoosiers ran the table at 32-0, a distinction that might stand for another half-century.

Knight’s teams had another great run from 1987-1993, but IU had two double-digit loss teams (1988 and 1990) that finished midpack in the Big Ten. And, like with the 1975 squad, a late-season injury to a key player (Alan Henderson) factored into preventing the No. 1 Hoosiers from a national title in 1993.

1986-1989 Indianapolis Indians

In the midst of the Colts’ Indianapolis infancy and the worst decade in the Pacers’ existence, the Indians carried the torch for sports teams around here. The Tribe produced many memorable summer nights at Bush Stadium on West 16th Street in the late 1980s, rattling off four straight American Association league titles, capped by two Triple-A championships in 1988 and 1989. Those teams were spearheaded by fan favorite Razor Shines, but a wealth of long-term Major Leaguers like Pascual Perez, Marquis Grissom, Mark Gardner, Delino DeShields and future Hall of Famers Randy Johnson and Larry Walker also contributed to that run.

1998-2004 Purdue Boilermakers women’s basketball

After coach Lin Dunn elevated the Boilermakers’ play in the late 1980s, the program became a certified women’s basketball powerhouse at the turn of the century, beginning with a memorable 34-1 national championship season in 1999. Even after head coach Carolyn Peck bolted for the WNBA, Kristy Perry put the Boilers quickly back on the doorstep of another title in 2001, where they ultimately fell short to Notre Dame in the final. Purdue won an average of 28 games per year in that span, winning three Big Ten titles and finishing ranked in the top 10 of the final Associated Press poll in five of the six seasons. Purdue’s 1999 national title remains the only women’s basketball triumph in Big Ten conference history. (Current members Maryland and USC won titles before they joined the league.)

2003-2009 Indianapolis Colts

For all the talk of capturing “only” one title, the 2003-2009 Colts’ run is one that has finally become properly appreciated, especially in light of the franchise’s recent struggles. Indianapolis won at least 12 games in seven consecutive seasons, helping to set the NFL record for the most wins of any team in any decade with 115 victories throughout the 2000s (2000-2009). Starting with Peyton Manning’s first MVP award and the team’s breakthrough playoff run in the 2003 season, the Colts won six division crowns (Remember when the Colts used to win the AFC South?) over the next seven seasons, made three AFC Championship Games, and won the conference twice while taking home the city’s only modern-era major pro sports championship with their Super Bowl XLI victory in 2007.

In the 15 seasons since losing Super Bowl XLIV to New Orleans, the franchise has yet to win 12 games in a season—even with a 17th game at their disposal these past few years—and has captured just four playoff victories.

2009-2012 Indiana Fever

The Fever were perhaps the most consistent team in the WNBA during Tamika Catchings’ Hall of Fame career, earning 11 straight playoff berths from 2005-2016. But the four-season run from 2009-2012 was the peak of that era. Indiana first broke through for its inaugural WNBA Finals appearance in 2009, led by Catchings and former Purdue and Perry Meridian star Katie Douglas. That team ultimately fell short to the Dianna Taurasi-led Mercury but came back three years later to defeat the defending champion Lynx to earn the franchise’s only WNBA crown in 2012. Indiana was nearly 40 games over .500, won five playoff series and two conference titles, and owned the best record in the East twice during that run.•

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From Peyton Manning’s peak with the Colts to the Pacers’ most recent roster makeover, Schultz has talked about it all as a sports personality in Indianapolis for more than 15 years. Besides his written work with IBJ, he’s active in podcasting and show hosting. You can follow him on X @Schultz975.