Stopped at 90

Posted: Tuesday, January 04, 2011 by Travis Cody in
8

I find life coincidences fascinating.

On 23 January 1971, Notre Dame beat UCLA.  The Bruins went on to win 88 straight basketball games, right up until the Irish beat them again on 19 January 1974.

So where is the coincidence, you ask?  Well I'll tell you!

On 6 April 2008, Stanford beat Connecticut in the NCAA Women's Final Four.  Stanford would go on to lose in the championship game to Tennessee, while UConn would go on to win 90 straight games, right up until the Cardinal beat them again on 30 December 2010.

See that coincidence?  The UCLA men's basketball team had 88 consecutive wins bookended by losses to Notre Dame, while the UConn women's basketball team had 90 consecutive wins bookended by Stanford.

OK, maybe that's only cool to a geek like me.

Congratulations to the Huskies for sustained excellence.  And congratulations to the Cardinal for a night of excellence. 

8 comments:

  1. Linda says:

    I do get it and I do think it's pretty cool when you look at it - though I doubt any of the UConn Women Huskies fans would be too impressed!

  1. Anonymous says:

    I'm glad UConn got the press they did. Goodnight was watching the news when they aired the segment about their consecutive wins - and in a sport that she loves to play, too. Congrats to all!

  1. Consider me a geek also...I thought that immediately upon hearing the Cardinal beat UConn...those who say their accomplishment is not as great as UCLA's are idgits in my mind.

  1. My friend, I think it's only cool to you. :)

  1. If I'm not mistaken OU football has a 47 game winning streak that is bracketed by losses to the Fighting Irish. It happened Between 1953-57.

  1. Akelamalu: Two very long winning streaks. One started and ended with a loss to Notre Dame, and the other started and ended with a loss to Stanford.

    NNG: It's been quite a run of dominance.

    Linda: Certainly not with getting beat. But it must be a little bit nice not to have to deal with it anymore.

    GGG: I am too.

    V: Agreed. It's a terrific achievement and should be celebrated as such. I don't think it surpasses what UCLA did, because the sports are different. But it's as good in the context of women's athletics as what UCLA did in the context of men's athletics.

    Charles: I'm OK with that.

    Driller: I looked it up and you are correct. OU opened the 1953 season with a loss to ND and a tie against Pitt, then didn't lose again until Nov 1957 to ND.