SWC75
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Syracuse’s basketball program has had 45 consecutive winning seasons, the longest streak in the country. Syracuse’s streak runs from 1970-1971 through 2014-2015 (for the purposes of this study I shall refer to seasons by the second year, in which most of the games are played and the championship is decided, so let’s call that 1971-2015). The all-time record is 54 in a row by UCLA from 1949-2002.
If we keep having winning seasons, we would top the Bruins in 24-25. Normally that we seem relatively simply, especially with all the homes games we have in the pre-conference season, the “guarantee” games against schools that come here to play for the money they can make and don’t expect a return game and the continuing excellence of our teams. But the NCAA punishments of reduced scholarships and vacated wins threaten to terminate that streak. Hopefully we can get at least enough of the vacated wins back to keep it alive.
I decided to do some research on consecutive winning seasons. I thought I could just google that and get a list but I was unable to win one. It may not be an official record, (in which case the NCAA’s action doesn’t actually threaten it). I scanned the yearly records of schools as listed in ESPN’s College Basketball Encyclopedia and also Basketball reference.com to try and come up with a list of every streak of at least 20 consecutive winning seasons to see just how good our streak looks by comparison. I’m limiting this to years where teams were considered major college. If their major college streak was part of a longer streak dating from when they were a major college, I’ll note that in the “Notes” section at the end. I’m also going to list consecutive seasons. If a school did not field a team for at least one seasons, that ends the streak, even if their program resumed and more winning seasons afterward, (also see the “notes” section for some examples). ‘+’ means the streak is still active.
54 UCLA 1949-2002
45 Syracuse 1971-2015+ (see notes)
42 Louisville 1949-1990 (see notes)
37 North Carolina 1965-2001
33 Indiana 1971-2003
32 Kansas 1984-2015+
31 Arizona 1985-2015+
31 St. John’s 1923-1953
30 Fordham 1903-1932
30 Notre Dame 1926-1955
30 St. John’s 1964-1993 (quite a history)
28 Connecticut 1988-2015+
28 Murray State 1988-2015+
28 Oklahoma 1982-2009
27 California 1908-1934
27 Rhode Island 1927-1953
26 North Dakota State 1901-1926
26 Toledo 1960-1985
25 Cincinnati 1954-1978
25 Kentucky 1928-1952 (see notes)
25 Kentucky 1991-2015+
25 Montana 1974-1998
24 Dartmouth 1921-1944
24 DePaul 1972-1995
24 Georgetown 1975-1998
23 Dayton 1949-1971
23 Oklahoma State 1989-2011
23 Princeton 1957-1979
23 Purdue 1920-1942
23 Temple 1984-2006
23 Western Michigan 1915-1937
22 Marquette 1966-1987
22 Maryland 1994-2015+
22 Penn State 1904-1925
22 Utah State 1994-2015+
21 Duke 1951-1972
21 UNLV 1974-1994
20 Duke 1996-2015
20 Houston 1960-1979
20 Illinois 1979-1998
20 Navy 1909-1928
20 North Carolina State 1972-1991
20 West Virginia 1945-1964
NOTES:
Alcon State had 21 consecutive winning seasons from 1966-1986 but didn’t become a major college team until 1978.
College of Charleston had 28 consecutive winning seasons from 1980-2007 but didn’t’ become a major college until 1992.
Jackson State had 29 consecutive winning seasons from 1950-1978 but only became a major college in the final year of the streak.
Kentucky had 25 consecutive winning seasons from 1928-1952, winning the NIT in 1947, the NCAAS championship in 1948, 1949 and 1951. They got caught up in the point-shaving scandals and the investigation into that revealed many recruiting improprieties. The NCAA and the SEC, (which was sick of losing to them) game them the first “death penalty” for the 1952-53 season. They went 25-0 the next season and beat eventual NCAA champions LaSalle by 73-60. But just before the NCAA tournament, the NCAA insisted that Kentucky could not use three players who had actually graduated during the “death penalty” year and Kentucky decided not to participate. They went on to another 13 winning seasons in a row, including another NCAA title in 1966 and that famous loss to Texas Western in t final year of the streak. That one “death penalty” year cost them a 39 year streak.
Louisville had a streak of 46 consecutive winning seasons from 1945-1990 Basketball Referecne.com says it lists only major college seasons and lists those years in Louisville’s record, (they have the Cardinals a major college team since 1912). ESPN’s College Basketball Encyclopedia lists their records from 1911 on as well. It does have information for years when teams were regarded as small colleges, (which is where I got much of the information about small college periods in this section). But they usually note when a team became a major college team. They say nothing about Louisville being a small college team at any time. Yet the Cardinals won the 1948 NAIB championship. That’s the “National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball”, which in 1952 became the NAIA. Wikipedia: “The goal of the tournament was to establish a forum for small colleges and universities to determine a national basketball champion.”. So it appears Louisville was considered a small college in 1948.They joined the Ohio Valley Conference, which was considered major college for basketball, the next year and appeared in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 1951. I’m going to count those first four season of their streak (1945-48) as a period when they were a small college and credit them with a major college streak of 42 in a row from 1949-1990.
Norfolk State had a dandy streak of 35 winning seasons in a row as a small college team from 1963-1997, then turned major college and had a losing seasons, the first of 11 in 13 years. Why do these schools ruin a good thing?
North Carolina A&T had 21 consecutive winning seasons from 1956-1076 but didn’t become a major college team until 1974.
The NCAA issued sanctions against Syracuse University on March 6, 2015 that included an order that “the institution will vacate all wins from the academic years 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2010-11 and 2011-12 in men's basketball”. This would end Syracuse’s steak with the 2003 season and reduce it to a 33 year streak. This University has announced an appeal of this decision so it’s possible the penalty might be reduced and some of those victories reinstated. Beyond that the consecutive winning season streak is not an official NCAA record, (it doesn’t appear in the NCAA Basketball Record Book). If the record is itself unofficial, Syracuse could still reasonably claim that their now “unofficial” wins still count toward it.
If we keep having winning seasons, we would top the Bruins in 24-25. Normally that we seem relatively simply, especially with all the homes games we have in the pre-conference season, the “guarantee” games against schools that come here to play for the money they can make and don’t expect a return game and the continuing excellence of our teams. But the NCAA punishments of reduced scholarships and vacated wins threaten to terminate that streak. Hopefully we can get at least enough of the vacated wins back to keep it alive.
I decided to do some research on consecutive winning seasons. I thought I could just google that and get a list but I was unable to win one. It may not be an official record, (in which case the NCAA’s action doesn’t actually threaten it). I scanned the yearly records of schools as listed in ESPN’s College Basketball Encyclopedia and also Basketball reference.com to try and come up with a list of every streak of at least 20 consecutive winning seasons to see just how good our streak looks by comparison. I’m limiting this to years where teams were considered major college. If their major college streak was part of a longer streak dating from when they were a major college, I’ll note that in the “Notes” section at the end. I’m also going to list consecutive seasons. If a school did not field a team for at least one seasons, that ends the streak, even if their program resumed and more winning seasons afterward, (also see the “notes” section for some examples). ‘+’ means the streak is still active.
54 UCLA 1949-2002
45 Syracuse 1971-2015+ (see notes)
42 Louisville 1949-1990 (see notes)
37 North Carolina 1965-2001
33 Indiana 1971-2003
32 Kansas 1984-2015+
31 Arizona 1985-2015+
31 St. John’s 1923-1953
30 Fordham 1903-1932
30 Notre Dame 1926-1955
30 St. John’s 1964-1993 (quite a history)
28 Connecticut 1988-2015+
28 Murray State 1988-2015+
28 Oklahoma 1982-2009
27 California 1908-1934
27 Rhode Island 1927-1953
26 North Dakota State 1901-1926
26 Toledo 1960-1985
25 Cincinnati 1954-1978
25 Kentucky 1928-1952 (see notes)
25 Kentucky 1991-2015+
25 Montana 1974-1998
24 Dartmouth 1921-1944
24 DePaul 1972-1995
24 Georgetown 1975-1998
23 Dayton 1949-1971
23 Oklahoma State 1989-2011
23 Princeton 1957-1979
23 Purdue 1920-1942
23 Temple 1984-2006
23 Western Michigan 1915-1937
22 Marquette 1966-1987
22 Maryland 1994-2015+
22 Penn State 1904-1925
22 Utah State 1994-2015+
21 Duke 1951-1972
21 UNLV 1974-1994
20 Duke 1996-2015
20 Houston 1960-1979
20 Illinois 1979-1998
20 Navy 1909-1928
20 North Carolina State 1972-1991
20 West Virginia 1945-1964
NOTES:
Alcon State had 21 consecutive winning seasons from 1966-1986 but didn’t become a major college team until 1978.
College of Charleston had 28 consecutive winning seasons from 1980-2007 but didn’t’ become a major college until 1992.
Jackson State had 29 consecutive winning seasons from 1950-1978 but only became a major college in the final year of the streak.
Kentucky had 25 consecutive winning seasons from 1928-1952, winning the NIT in 1947, the NCAAS championship in 1948, 1949 and 1951. They got caught up in the point-shaving scandals and the investigation into that revealed many recruiting improprieties. The NCAA and the SEC, (which was sick of losing to them) game them the first “death penalty” for the 1952-53 season. They went 25-0 the next season and beat eventual NCAA champions LaSalle by 73-60. But just before the NCAA tournament, the NCAA insisted that Kentucky could not use three players who had actually graduated during the “death penalty” year and Kentucky decided not to participate. They went on to another 13 winning seasons in a row, including another NCAA title in 1966 and that famous loss to Texas Western in t final year of the streak. That one “death penalty” year cost them a 39 year streak.
Louisville had a streak of 46 consecutive winning seasons from 1945-1990 Basketball Referecne.com says it lists only major college seasons and lists those years in Louisville’s record, (they have the Cardinals a major college team since 1912). ESPN’s College Basketball Encyclopedia lists their records from 1911 on as well. It does have information for years when teams were regarded as small colleges, (which is where I got much of the information about small college periods in this section). But they usually note when a team became a major college team. They say nothing about Louisville being a small college team at any time. Yet the Cardinals won the 1948 NAIB championship. That’s the “National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball”, which in 1952 became the NAIA. Wikipedia: “The goal of the tournament was to establish a forum for small colleges and universities to determine a national basketball champion.”. So it appears Louisville was considered a small college in 1948.They joined the Ohio Valley Conference, which was considered major college for basketball, the next year and appeared in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 1951. I’m going to count those first four season of their streak (1945-48) as a period when they were a small college and credit them with a major college streak of 42 in a row from 1949-1990.
Norfolk State had a dandy streak of 35 winning seasons in a row as a small college team from 1963-1997, then turned major college and had a losing seasons, the first of 11 in 13 years. Why do these schools ruin a good thing?
North Carolina A&T had 21 consecutive winning seasons from 1956-1076 but didn’t become a major college team until 1974.
The NCAA issued sanctions against Syracuse University on March 6, 2015 that included an order that “the institution will vacate all wins from the academic years 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2010-11 and 2011-12 in men's basketball”. This would end Syracuse’s steak with the 2003 season and reduce it to a 33 year streak. This University has announced an appeal of this decision so it’s possible the penalty might be reduced and some of those victories reinstated. Beyond that the consecutive winning season streak is not an official NCAA record, (it doesn’t appear in the NCAA Basketball Record Book). If the record is itself unofficial, Syracuse could still reasonably claim that their now “unofficial” wins still count toward it.
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