An Unbroken Record

Note: I often forget that not everyone watches ESPN as much as I do. This blog post is in response to their coverage and reaction.

First of all, congratulations to the UConn women's basketball team. Winning as many games in a row as the UCLA men's basketball team is extremely impressive and deserving of praise. But, it's not the same. The level of competition and depth of talent throughout the league is not even close. The difference is the same as non-automatic qualifying conferences compared to BCS conferences. Why can a team like Boise State go undefeated and still possibly get beat out for a spot in the championship game by a team from the SEC with one loss? Easy answer: the schedule.

For a team like Boise, they have a monopoly on talent compared to the other teams in their conference and if they don't go undefeated, if not blowout all their competition, then they don't get consideration. They had an easier road to their record than a team in a tougher conference that has a bigger talent pool and more parity. For the BCS conference team, each game was a more difficult challenge and therefore an undefeated record at the end of the season is a more impressive and greater accomplishment. Not that a non-automatically qualifying team going undefeated isn't an accomplishment and proof that they are a great team, it's just that it shouldn't be compared to a school from the SEC doing the same.

That's the same with the UConn women's team. They're the Boise State of women's basketball. It's not their level of play is any lower, it's just that compared to the competition their talent level is so much higher they should be expected to win. Not only should they win each game, but if they don't win by a large margin it's a disappointment. For UConn, winning 88 games in a row isn't a triumph of overcoming opponents, it's a triumph of not blowing it. They've been favorites by a wide margin in almost every game they've played. Of course, during UCLA's streak they probably played quite a few outmatched teams, but the prevalence of them was much lower. That is, some of the time as opposed to pretty much all the time. UConn is bringing a Formula 1 car to a street race. They are so much more dominant and have such a discrepancy in talent that even on an off-night they may win by twenty.

Again, the UConn women's streak is impressive. It's a result of a commitment to excellence, great coaching and constant recruiting of the best players in the country. They're a traveling all-star team and they dominate like they should. They may win more games in a row than UCLA, but they won't break their record because they don't compare. It's not strictly about whether it men's or women's basketball either. It's that UConn has a much wider margin of talent and thus an easier road. In other words, it's not a gender versus gender thing, it's a Boise State versus Alabama thing.