UConn hoops streak recalls similar feats
Huskies impress, but streaks also abound in many other sports.
STORRS, CONN. — UConn’s women’s basketball team is on the verge of winning its 91st straight game, which would break its own NCAA Division I record set from 2008 to 2010. The Huskies play Saturday at SMU, a team that is 10-6 and just lost to Tulane. UConn’s streak ranks among the most impressive in sports, but there are plenty of others. Here’s a look at some of them:
Trinity, squash: UConn’s women don’t own the longest winning streak in college sports history, or even in the state of Connecticut. That streak belongs to the Trinity men’s squash team. The Bantams won 252 consecutive matches, including 13 national championships, from February 1998 to January 2012, when they lost to rival Yale.
Wayland Baptist, women’s basketball: The Huskies also don’t own the longest streak in women’s college basketball. Wayland Baptist in Plainview, Texas, won 131 straight from 1953 to 1958, when the Flying Queens finally lost in the AAU national semifinals to their rivals the Nashville Business College. Their streak included four straight AAU national championships.
UC L A , men’s b a s ke tball: UConn’s streaks are most often compared to the 88-game benchmark put up by John Wooden and the UCLA men from 1971 to 1974. There are parallels. Both programs are considered the best in the history of their sport. UCLA won 10 titles during the Wooden era. UConn and Geno Auriemma have 11. UCLA won the final three of its seven consecutive titles during the winning streak. UConn has won four straight, two during the streak.
Oklahoma, college football: Oklahoma went more than three seasons without losing or tying a game. Its 47 consecutive wins from 1953 to 1957 are seven games longer than the second-longest major college football streak, put up by Washington from 1908 to 1914. Alabama, by comparison, won 26 straight before losing to Clemson on Monday.
New England Patriots, NFL: New England won 21 straight games from October 2003 to October 2004, including two playoff games and a Super Bowl (32-29 over Carolina). The Patriots’ streak was broken in 2004 by Pittsburgh. But the Patriots recovered to go 14-2 that season and beat the Eagles for a second consecutive title.
Edwin Moses, track and field: Moses holds perhaps the most impressive individual winning streak. The twotime Olympic champion hurdler won 122 consecutive 400meter races, including 107 straight finals from August 1977 to June 1987. Moses was 31 years old when he lost to fellow American Danny Harris, who was 10 years younger, at a meet in Spain.
Byron Nelson, golf: Byron Nelson dominated the PGA Tour in 1945, winning 18 tournaments, including an unprecedented 11 in a row. The closest any other golfer has come to that is seven straight, by Tiger Woods in 2006 and 2007.