STREAKING winning streaks is a subject matter that is mind-boggling. In case you have not noticed, the current local college basketball scene has produced a number of winning streaks by school teams that have stretched through multiple seasons.
The two-time defending champion and host Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles are unbeaten after the first round of the eight-school University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament with an impeccable 7-0 record.
In the 10-school National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the three-time defending titlist San Beda University Red Lions are unblemished in 15 games so far in Season 95 and are just three victories away from an 18-game, double-round sweep in regular play. Over two seasons, the Red Lions currently own a 29-game winning streak.
And last Sunday (September 29), the ownership of the longest winning streak in Philippine college basketball history changed hands.
The distinction now belongs to the National University Lady Bulldogs after beating the University of the East Lady Red Warriors, 109-54, this morning for their 87th consecutive victory over six seasons (since Season 77), including a seven-game sweep of the first round of the 2019 UAAP women’s basketball competitions so far.
Previously, the University of Manila Hawks owned an 86-game winning streak in the NAASCU men’s competitions from 2001 to 2005.
The Lady Bulldogs’ winning string could stretch to 96 games – seven more in the second round of the ongoing UAAP women’s tournament plus a two-game sweep of the Finals.
A 100 can wait … next year in Season 83 hosted by Adamson University. And another season for the NU Lady Bulldogs to wait to perhaps shatter the 111-game winning streak of the University of Connecticut Huskies women’s basketball team from 2014 to March 2017 that produced two U.S. NCAA titles. During that streak, UConn made history by being the first team in U.S. NCAA Division I women’s basketball to capture four consecutive championships.
The Lady Huskies also had winning streaks of 70 games (2001-03) and 90 games (2008-December 2010) before that time.
Meanwhile, the second-longest winning streak in UAAP history belongs to the Adamson University Lady Falcons. The school won 73 consecutive games in women’s softball from 2010 to 2016. The Lady Falcons are currently the nine-time defending champions in the event.
In the NCAA, the men’s volleyball team of the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta Altas owns the record for the longest winning streak in league history.
The Altas won 53 consecutive matches over five seasons from 2010 to 2014 that produced four championships in a row.