Thoughts on UConn's 14 consecutive Final Fours

[Linart]

Many years ago, perhaps during the Diana Taurasi era or before, UConn made it to three consecutive Final Fours. How mind-boggling was that, we thought. There was even a T-shirt that I bought that read:

UConn Women's Basketball
Final Four
Back to Back to Back

What an accomplishment!

And now we have 14 straight, and the reaction seems to be "Yes, that's very nice." Apparently not T-shirt worthy.

 

[Geew1992]

Many years ago, perhaps during the Diana Taurasi era or before, UConn made it to three consecutive Final Fours. How mind-boggling was that, we thought. There was even a T-shirt that I bought that read:

UConn Women's Basketball
Final Four
Back to Back to Back

What an accomplishment!

And now we have 14 straight, and the reaction seems to be "Yes, that's very nice." Apparently not T-shirt worthy.

Pretty sure the t-shirt was for the championships. But........... Diana did say the Final 4 is Uconn's house.

 

[Centerstream]

And what other schools have a current consecutive FF streak?
SoCar and Stanford - each with 2

 

[LoboDays]

We are approaching the record for consecutive without a championship. Unfortunately, that will be the headline. Let’s put that one to rest on Sunday night.

 

[Linart]

Pretty sure the t-shirt was for the championships. But........... Diana did say the Final 4 is Uconn's house.

No it was for the Final Four. 2000, 2001, 2002. In 2001 we did not win the championship.

 

[Waquoit]

It's crazy. Then again, 10 was crazy. Then a dozen...

 

[my2cents]

Instead of a "dislike" button, we need a "wet blanket" one.
When discussing the historic UCONN streaks, streaks that will never be broken by the way,
the ending is not historic, the streak was.
Joe Dimagio's 56 game hitting streak will never be broken, the fact that he didn't get a hit in game 57 was not. The "Wet blanket" crowd, would comment, "I can't believe he didn't get a hit in game 57"
We won 169 conference games in a row, regular season and tournaments. "I can't believe we lost to Villanova in a conference game" Villanova's win was not historic.
"I can't believe we have not won a NC in 5 years" (Just like 99% of the other schools.)
All ESPN stories highlight the END of some pretty amazing and unbelievable streaks, and each and every one is a negative and a "Wet Blanket"

 

[UcMiami]

Uconn had five consecutive FF one before DT arrived followed by her 4 in a row. LSU, ND, and Stanford then matched that record of 5. (TN had three separate streaks of 4 FF in a row during Pat's years,) LSU, Stanford, and ND's streaks of 5 did not result in any championships, and Uconn will match that 5 year streak if they do not win it all this year. If Uconn loses in the semifinal they will match LSU in losing 5 straight semifinals - ND (4) and Stanford (2) reached the finals during their streaks.

 

[Aluminny69]

IMO the streak of no consecutive losses will never be broken. It is something like 29 years and counting. I think the next active streak is two years. So, do the math.

 

[UcMiami]

Posted elsewhere but fun read from NCAA site:

UConn's unprecedented Final Four run stands the test of time

UConn and NC State's Elite Eight matchup in the 2022 women's NCAA tournament was an instant classic, with Jakia Brown-Turner's game-tying three at the end of OT, and Paige Bueckers taking over for the Huskies. Watch the tying shot and the full 2OT period here from the Elite Eight.

www.ncaa.com

 

[MilfordHusky]

Uconn had five consecutive FF one before DT arrived followed by her 4 in a row. LSU, ND, and Stanford then matched that record of 5. (TN had three separate streaks of 4 FF in a row during Pat's years,) LSU, Stanford, and ND's streaks of 5 did not result in any championships, and Uconn will match that 5 year streak if they do not win it all this year. If Uconn loses in the semifinal they will match LSU in losing 5 straight semifinals - ND (4) and Stanford (2) reached the finals during their streaks.

Some key players in the streaks:

UConn: Shea, Sveta, Sue, Swin, Diana

Stanford: Wiggins, Appel, Nneka, Chiney, Pedersen, Pohlen

LSU: Seimone, Sylvia, Johnson

Notre Dame: Diggins, KMac, Jewell

UConn: Maya, Tina, Renee, Kaleena, Stewie, Moriah, Morgan, Gabby, Kia, Lou, Pheesa, Megan, Paige

 

[Centerstream]

Dawn and SoCar have 1 Championship and 1 banner.


Cold, but I couldn't resist...

 

[meyers7]

14 straight is 2 7 straight. Another 7 and ....we get....Jackpot!

 

[BRS24]

I got this newsletter as an email, and managed to read it 1x in a browser, however then could not, but it's a good perspective of the how & why UConn is at its 14th consecutive FF.

Appreciating UConn's incredible run of excellence by Howard Megdal

"I've been privileged enough to cover so much of UConn's run of excellence, but it certainly predates me. This week, my daughter turned 12. The year Geno went to his first Final Four in 1991, I was 11."

 

[DefenseBB]

The NCAA has had some pretty remarkable streaks of success, so much so I did a little research to see where the 14 Consecutive Final Fours rank. I haven't finished this but preliminarily here's what I found:

Women's Soccer-North Carolina made 22 consecutive Final Fours 1982-2003
Men's Lacrosse-Syracuse made 22 consecutive Final Fours 1983-2004
Women's Basketball-UConn 14 consecutive Final Fours 2007-2022 (active)
Field Hockey-North Carolina made 12 consecutive Final Fours 2009-2020
Women's Lacrosse-Northwester made 12 consecutive Final Fours 1990-2001
Men's Basketball-UCLA made 10 consecutive Final Fours 1967-1976

Baseball and Softball have their WS where 8 teams make it and so I parsed them out:
Baseball-Oklahoma State 7 straight WS 1981-1987
Softball-Arizona 16 from 1988-2003; Active is UCLA with 6 straight.

Yes, some will immediately qualify Lacrosse as it there are not as many schools or conferences that field teams nor did the NCAAT invite that many teams as Basketball.

Soccer is slightly better from the participation perspective but still not to the level that WCBB is. Still a truly remarkable record that may never be broken (Here's a goal for Geno ).

 

[BRS24]

The NCAA has had some pretty remarkable streaks of success, so much so I did a little research to see where the 14 Consecutive Final Fours rank. I haven't finished this but preliminarily here's what I found:

Women's Soccer-North Carolina made 22 consecutive Final Fours 1982-2003
Men's Lacrosse-Syracuse made 22 consecutive Final Fours 1983-2004
Women's Basketball-UConn 14 consecutive Final Fours 2007-2022 (active)
Field Hockey-North Carolina made 12 consecutive Final Fours 2009-2020
Women's Lacrosse-Northwester made 12 consecutive Final Fours 1990-2001
Men's Basketball-UCLA made 10 consecutive Final Fours 1967-1976

Baseball and Softball have their WS where 8 teams make it and so I parsed them out:
Baseball-Oklahoma State 7 straight WS 1981-1987
Softball-Arizona 16 from 1988-2003; Active is UCLA with 6 straight.

Yes, some will immediately qualify Lacrosse as it there are not as many schools or conferences that field teams nor did the NCAAT invite that many teams as Basketball.

Soccer is slightly better from the participation perspective but still not to the level that WCBB is. Still a truly remarkable record that may never be broken (Here's a goal for Geno ).

Great info. You could argue that basketball has been a deeper pool for longer than women's soccer & field hockey, so what UConn has done is quite a feat.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Think of it this way. If UConn wins this year it will have won half of the last 14 championships. Not bad.

 

[Linart]

It seems "Dynasty" gets thrown around frequently in WBB, mostly by teams that have few if any NCs. Mississippi State was touted as a dynasty after defeating UConn in the FF. Duke under Gail Goesternkors claimed that they were a dynasty. One wag referred to their coach as Gail Go-Get-a-Title-and-Then-We'll-Talk.

 

[BBallF]

The NCAA has had some pretty remarkable streaks of success, so much so I did a little research to see where the 14 Consecutive Final Fours rank. I haven't finished this but preliminarily here's what I found:

Women's Soccer-North Carolina made 22 consecutive Final Fours 1982-2003
Men's Lacrosse-Syracuse made 22 consecutive Final Fours 1983-2004
Women's Basketball-UConn 14 consecutive Final Fours 2007-2022 (active)
Field Hockey-North Carolina made 12 consecutive Final Fours 2009-2020
Women's Lacrosse-Northwester made 12 consecutive Final Fours 1990-2001
Men's Basketball-UCLA made 10 consecutive Final Fours 1967-1976

Baseball and Softball have their WS where 8 teams make it and so I parsed them out:
Baseball-Oklahoma State 7 straight WS 1981-1987
Softball-Arizona 16 from 1988-2003; Active is UCLA with 6 straight.

Yes, some will immediately qualify Lacrosse as it there are not as many schools or conferences that field teams nor did the NCAAT invite that many teams as Basketball.

Soccer is slightly better from the participation perspective but still not to the level that WCBB is. Still a truly remarkable record that may never be broken (Here's a goal for Geno ).

You can't compare lacrosse in those years as you point out because the sport has multiplied beginning with the early 2000s. Nor can you compare women's soccer. The effects of Title 9 have been both obvious and subtle, short and long term. The participation level has simply exploded in soccer everywhere also during that time.

 

[BBallF]

No matter how you view it, the record is objectively staggering.

 

[my2cents]

The last time the Tenn Lady Vols were at the Final Four was 2008. Since then, we have been in 13 straight.

 

[uconnfan68]

THE dynasty.

 

[Cuango]

14 consecutive final fours is truly a great, possibly unbreakable record. However, imo the most impressive record is UConn not losing consecutive games since 1993! Actually, on second thought, those two records may be tied.

 

[Dogstar]

Idk if it's been mentioned but the 11- 0 streak in championships is not too shabby, so many UConn wbb streaks tht will be incredibly hard to break.