Phil
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I thought it was interesting that Tennessee has lost to Alabama four consecutive times so I thought I'd check into seeing if this constituted some sort of record.
We will have to start by limiting review to the modern era, not because records don't exist but because Tennessee prior to 1972 was rarely very good with the exception of 1926. (The team started in 1903 but didn't win their first game until 1907)
They had some long losing streaks to schools in the early days, for example, they are 0-4 against Farragut School, but that happened in 1905-1908. The longest early losing streak appears to be against Maryville school when they lost 13 consecutive times between 1903 and 1920.
One interesting streak extends to 1984. It's only three games, but they have never beaten Cincinnati. To be fair, two of those losses were in 1924, but I think that's the most recent of the never beaten streaks.
There are a few streaks of four or more games in the modern era.
I believe in every single one of these games, Tennessee's opponent was nationally ranked, often in the top 10 or recognized as one of the nations leading teams if prior to the official rankings.
That's what makes the Alabama streak so anomalous. In each of the last four games against Alabama, the Alabama team was unranked. I don't believe any of the other four or more game streaks involved any unranked teams. Is this just an odd coincidence or is there something about Alabama? (I know the football history but I'm not really convinced that a football rivalry which isn't much of a rivalry, translates to a women's basketball rivalry.)
We will have to start by limiting review to the modern era, not because records don't exist but because Tennessee prior to 1972 was rarely very good with the exception of 1926. (The team started in 1903 but didn't win their first game until 1907)
They had some long losing streaks to schools in the early days, for example, they are 0-4 against Farragut School, but that happened in 1905-1908. The longest early losing streak appears to be against Maryville school when they lost 13 consecutive times between 1903 and 1920.
One interesting streak extends to 1984. It's only three games, but they have never beaten Cincinnati. To be fair, two of those losses were in 1924, but I think that's the most recent of the never beaten streaks.
There are a few streaks of four or more games in the modern era.
- Mississippi beat Tennessee four straight times between 1985 and 1986. While Mississippi isn't all that strong recently, they were very good in that era with AP ratings of 6, 8, 8, and 12
- The western USC beat Tennessee four straight times between 1982 and 1984, but the team was nationally ranked as either number one or number five at the time.
- Texas had two four-game winning streaks, one starting in 1982 and the other starting in 2002. The rankings range from number one through number 22.
- Baylor won 5 consecutive times against Tennessee between 2010 and 2012 generally ranked 12 or three and once ranked number 14.
- Old Dominion won 5 consecutive times in the 1979 to 1980 period when they were a national power.
- UConn won 6 straight times between 2002 and 2004 each time ranked either number one or number three.
- Notre Dame had six consecutive wins between 2011 and 2016 with rankings ranging from two through nine.
- Tennessee Tech had their number between 1974 and 1977, winning seven consecutive times. That was prior to national rankings but I believe they were a national powerhouse at the time.
I believe in every single one of these games, Tennessee's opponent was nationally ranked, often in the top 10 or recognized as one of the nations leading teams if prior to the official rankings.
That's what makes the Alabama streak so anomalous. In each of the last four games against Alabama, the Alabama team was unranked. I don't believe any of the other four or more game streaks involved any unranked teams. Is this just an odd coincidence or is there something about Alabama? (I know the football history but I'm not really convinced that a football rivalry which isn't much of a rivalry, translates to a women's basketball rivalry.)
