A Tale of Two Streaks

When I sat down to begin this article, I had a clear vision of the argument in which I wanted to support. Everyone knows of the Connecticut women’s basketball team and their streak of ninety consecutive wins. Everyone also knows that it surpassed the previous record of eighty-eight wins held by legendary John Wooden led UCLA Bruins men’s team. An identity crisis soon ensued for the entire sports world.

The argument that I wanted to back, being of the sexually dominant male side of sports, was that there was no way on God’s polished hardwood that UConn’s streak could be more impressive than UCLA’s. However, in today’s world it is not enough to simply say that UCLA’s streak is more impressive because men are better athletes than women. I needed a formula. I needed something that could take away the biased nature of our media.

I decided to look at the argument through three frames: difficulty, emotion, and time period. Basically, I wanted to compare the numbers, compare the respective meaning of each streak, and compare the streaks with respect of the time period in which they were accomplished.

As far as difficulty was concerned, there were a number of facts and accomplishments in which I could compare. Both teams handily defeated their opponents. However, was there a difference in the strength of schedule?

For the UConn women, the only obstacles on their road to ninety wins lied mostly in out of conference play and the occasional Big East teams such as Georgetown and Notre Dame. Also, they were rarely tested in the NCAA tournament with the one exception being last year’s championship game against Stanford.

For the UCLA men, the Pac-10 was a relatively weak conference during their streak with the exception of USC and an up year by Arizona. Out of conference play was where their streak was untouchable except for Notre Dame who bookended the streak. UCLA did have a tougher road to the championship than the UConn women, but it was much easier than any team in men’s basketball has ever encountered.

The emotion of the streak was the one ambiguous, subjective concept that I wanted to add to this ‘formula.’ Emotion can capture, stamp, and authenticate moments. Emotion is the one aspect that can simultaneously fuel a rivalry, rebuild a program, and gain public appeal. I decided to take one aspect from both streaks that seized the emotion of the nation as well as basketball and its future.

The UCLA men’s streak intrigued the nation to the world of college basketball and life. Of course, college basketball was an exciting, popular sport during the time, but the lasting effect of the streak and John Wooden’s overall legacy will always be linked to shaping basketball. Although it may not have had the immediate impact on basketball that the 1966 NCAA Championship game possessed when an all-black Texas El-Paso squad defeated Kentucky as well as racial barriers, the streak will always be remembered as a legendary figure (Wooden) leading a squad to be not only better basketball players, but also better human beings.

The UConn women’s streak destroyed barriers of gender in sports while setting the standard for excellence to a higher bar. Geno Auriemma, the Susan B. Anthony and John Wooden hybrid of sports, has fought for this team to be considered among the best while developing his players into acceptable citizens of society. Although he has openly made statements proclaiming his disgust for modern media and fans who are only along for the ride because it is a men’s record, not once has he declared the dominance of UConn’s streak compared to UCLA’s. He does not compare himself to the late Wooden or his team to UCLA, but, like most coaches, demands excellence on and off the court, which is comparable to Wooden. While women’s athletics will never pass men’s in popularity with the public and media, this streak will forever be remembered, at least until it is broken down the road.

While the two streaks have been comparable thus far, I believed that the last frame of judgment would provide all of the proof needed to proclaim the UCLA men’s streak far more dominant than the UConn women’s. Looking at college basketball in the modern era, men’s and women’s basketball has an apparent difference. Whereas women’s basketball has a powerhouse of four to five teams that are seemingly the only teams in the chase year-in and year-out, men’s basketball appears more level across the playing field. I attributed this fact to the recruitment in both sports and the disparity between athletes in both sports.

For example, take the NCAA tournament from both sides. Double-digit seeds are more frequent in the men’s tournament during the later rounds. Since 2007, seeds of ten or higher have advanced thirty-two times in the men’s tournament compared to only seventeen in the women’s. As for the Final Four, thirteen teams have been represented on the men’s side compared to only nine on the women’s side. Also, a greater amount of teams have represented the men’s final top ten over this span.

I credit much of this to the rise and predominance of a select group of women’s basketball teams. Teams such as Connecticut, Tennessee, Stanford, and Duke have ruled the recruitment universe with the occasional Rutgers or Baylor rising for a year or two. These teams consistently acquire the top tier athletes on a yearly basis. Also, the top tier of women athletes has been far greater than the other tiers. The disparity between the tiers of athletes in women’s basketball is much greater than in men’s basketball, or, perhaps, there are more athletes in men’s basketball that reach the ‘Maya Moore’ tier if one were to compare the two.

Alas, the present meant nothing when comparing it to the past. Upon further evaluation of the UCLA men’s streak, one component struck me. Looking at the top ten rankings for men’s basketball between 1970-1974 and women’s basketball between 2007-2011 which included a majority of both team’s streaks, there were twenty four different teams in the top ten for men’s basketball and twenty different teams in the top ten for women’s. For the top five, eleven different teams represented men’s basketball compared to nine for women’s. So, the disparity that is relevant when comparing the two in today’s basketball world is non-existent when comparing it to the past. The UCLA men’s season and tournament consisted largely of the same predominant forces that women’s basketball faces today.

Examination of the three frames has led me to this unexpected conclusion. If one were to compare them as equal, the difficulty was similar, the emotional effect was great, and the disparity was comparable. There is nothing that I can see to prompt one streak as more impressive than the other. To my fellow bros, I am sorry. I have failed to answer the ultimate ‘gender domination’ call. With an unbiased, objective, media-disbarring goal, I have finally broken down the mental barrier that our male-dominated sports world has created.