Winning streak (sports)

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In sports, a winning streak refers to a consecutive number of games won. The smallest "winning streak" is 3 consecutive wins. A winning streak can be held by a team, as in baseball, football, basketball, hockey, or by an individual, as in tennis. A winning streak that extends through a single season is known as a perfect season.

The longest winning streak in any professional sports may have been Jahangir Khan's 555 consecutive wins in squash from 1981 to 1986. Currently, Esther Vergeer is on a 383-match winning streak in wheelchair tennis since January 30, 2003, which included a streak of 250 consecutive sets won.

A winning streak is not to be confused with an unbeaten streak, where teams can tie as well as win and keep their streak. For example, if a football team wins four games in a row, plays a draw, wins three more, plays two draws in a row, and then loses, they had a 10 game unbeaten streak. Their longest winning streak in this sequence was four. It should also be noted that in many ice hockey leagues, especially in North America where there is both a 4-on-4 overtime and a penalty shootout to break ties, an unbeaten streak (unlike a winning streak) continues if at the end of regulation, the game is tied. This is because losses in overtime and shootout are declared regulation ties, and teams accumulate one point for the draw. As such, if a team wins four consecutive games, then loses two consecutive games in overtime, then loses in a shootout, and then wins three consecutive games, that team has a ten-game unbeaten streak (seven wins and three ties at the end of regulation).


Contents

[edit] Athlethics

[edit] Running

[edit] (400 metre hurdles)

122 races—1977-1987 Edwin Moses

  • Streak started September 1977
  • Streak ended June 1987


[edit] Auto racing

[edit] Formula One

7 wins—2004 Michael Schumacher

  • Streak started May 30, 2004
  • Streak ended August 29, 2004

[edit] NASCAR Cup Series

10 wins—1967 Richard Petty

Note: Many NASCAR Cup Series records are differentiated between pre-1972 and post-1972 records. Three major changes were made for that season:

  • The schedule was shortened from 48 to 31 races. (The Sprint Cup Series now has 36 races.)
  • All dirt track races were removed from the schedule; since then, almost all Cup Series races have been held on oval tracks, with the remainder on road courses.
  • A minimum race distance was established — originally 250 miles (402.3 km), later shortened to 300 km (186.4 miles).

Many NASCAR streaks came when the series had shorter races — some were under 100 miles. As a result, some NASCAR records are differentiated that way, similar to the NBA differentiating "fewest points" records with pre and post-1954 records, when the 24-second shot clock was introduced.

Post-1972

4 wins (tie) (length of shortest race, in miles, in brackets):

- 1976 Cale Yarborough (216.8)

- 1981 Darrell Waltrip (250)

- 1987 Dale Earnhardt (250)

- 1991 Harry Gant (250)

- 1992 Bill Elliott (300)

- 1993 Mark Martin (220.5)

- 1998 Jeff Gordon (220.5)

- 2007 Jimmie Johnson (263)

Note: In seven of the eight instances, at least one of the wins was in a 500-mile race. Mark Martin's 1993 streak ended at Darlington, where the Mountain Dew Southern 500 was stopped 16 laps early because of darkness.


[edit] Basketball

[edit] College Basketball

[edit] NCAA Men's Division I

[edit] (All games)

88 games—UCLA, 1971–1974

[edit] (Regular-season games only)

By NCAA convention, the "regular season" does not include games in conference tournaments or in any national postseason tournament.

76 games—UCLA, 1971–1974

  • This streak was a subset of the 88-game streak listed above, with the same starting and ending dates.

[edit] NCAA Women's Division I

[edit] (All games)

70 games—Connecticut, 2001–2003

  • Streak started November 9, 2001 (defeated Fairfield 93–50)
  • Streak ended March 11, 2003 (ended by Villanova 48-52)
[edit] (Regular-season games only)

By NCAA convention, the "regular season" does not include games in conference tournaments or in any national postseason tournament.

52 games—Vermont, 1991–1993

  • Streak started March 2, 1991 (defeated Maine 74–65)
  • Streak ended November 30, 1993 (ended by Connecticut 66–96)

[edit] High school basketball

159 games—1919-1925 Passaic High School

[edit] National Basketball Association

33 games—1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers


[edit] Bat-and-ball games

[edit] Baseball

[edit] College baseball

[edit] (NCAA Division I)

34 games (tie):

- 1977 Texas

  • Streak started February 18, 1977 (defeated Texas Wesleyan 3-1)
  • Streak ended March 26, 1977 (defeated by Rice 4-3)

- 1999 Florida Atlantic

[edit] (NCAA Division II)

46 games—2000 Savannah St.

[edit] (NCAA Division III)

44 games—2008 Trinity College (Connecticut)

[edit] (NAIA)

41 games—1990 Point Park College (Pittsburgh, PA)

[edit] Major League Baseball

[edit] (Longest winning streak by a team)

26 games—1916 New York Giants

Note: The Giants tied the Pirates in the second game of a doubleheader 1-1 on September 18, 1916. Major League Baseball excludes all games which end in ties from their official statistics. The longest winning streak without ties in Major League Baseball is 21 games, achieved by the Chicago Cubs in 1935. The Oakland Athletics hold the American League record at 20 games, set in 2002.

[edit] (Longest winning streak by a pitcher)

24 consecutive winning decisions—1936-1937 Carl Hubbell, New York Giants

Note: Hubbell's streak was achieved in 27 games as he also pitched three no-decisions. In baseball, only losing decisions can end winning streaks by pitchers.


[edit] Cricket

[edit] (Test)

16 matches—1999-2001 Australia

[edit] (ODI)

21 matches—2003 Australia


[edit] Combat sports

[edit] Boxing

87 - Julio César Chávez (light welterweight)[1]

  • Streak started 5 February 1980 (defeated Andres Felix) (Chávez's first professional bout)
  • Streak ended 10 September 1993 (draw with Pernell Whitaker)

Note: After two more wins Chávez lost to Frankie Randall on 29 January 1994 to end an unbeaten streak of 90 matches.

Longest unbeaten streak [2]

103 - Jimmy Wilde (flyweight) [3]

  • Streak started 26 December 1910 (defeated Les Williams) (Wilde's first professional bout)
  • Streak ended 25 January 1915 (defeated by Tancy Lee)

Note: all fights were in the UK against boxers of the UK. The records for international fights are:

93 - Pedro Carrasco (lightweight)[4]

  • Streak started 22 April 1964 (defeated Giuliano Scatolini)
  • Streak ended 18 February 1972 (defeated by Mando Ramos)

91 - Sugar Ray Robinson (middleweight)[5]

[edit] Wrestling

[edit] High school wrestling

459 matches—1974-2008 Brandon High School, FL

[edit] Professional wrestling

Note: In professional wrestling, matches (and therefore winning streaks) are prearranged by the promotion's booking staff

174 wins—1997-1998 Bill Goldberg

  • Streak started September 22, 1997 (defeated Hugh Morrus)
  • Streak ended December 27, 1998 (ended by Kevin Nash)

The Undertaker has a streak of 17 wins at WrestleManias (17-0)[6]


[edit] Equine sports

[edit] Horse racing

[edit] Longest winning streak by a racehorse

56 races—1953-1955 Camarero[7]

  • Streak started April 19, 1953
  • Streak ended August 1, 1955
[edit] Longest winning streak by a jockey

12 races—1933 Gordon Richards

  • Streak started October 3, 1933
  • Streak ended October 5, 1933


[edit] Football

[edit] Association Football

[edit] International

15 games—2008-2009 Spain[8]

  • Streak started June 26, 2008 (defeated Russia, 3-0)
  • Streak ended June 24, 2009 (ended by United States, 0-2)

Note: Spain (7 Feb 2007 - 24 Jun 2009) also shares with Brazil (16 Dec 1993 - 21 Jan 1996) the unbeaten record of 35 games. Brazil's loss at the 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup was by the under-23 (Olympic) team, but is officially counted as a loss of the national team [9]. Otherwise the Brazil national team wouldn't lose until 30 May 1997 (2:4 vs Norway), thus extending it to 45 games.

[edit] National leagues

[edit] (Portuguese Liga)

29 games—1971-1973 S.L. Benfica[10]

[edit] (Prva HNL)

28 games—2007-2008 Dinamo Zagreb[10]

[edit] (Scottish Premier League)

25 games—2003-2004 Celtic F.C.[10]

[edit] (Eredivisie)

22 games—1987-1988 PSV Eindhoven[10]

[edit] (Serie A)

17 games—2006-2007 F.C. Internazionale Milano[10]

[edit] (La Liga)

15 games—1960-1961 Real Madrid C.F.[10]

[edit] (Fußball-Bundesliga)

15 games—2005-2006 Bayern Munich[10]

[edit] (English Premier League)

14 games—2002 Arsenal F.C.[10]

  • Streak started February 10, 2002
  • Streak ended August 18, 2002
[edit] (Major League Soccer)

15 games—1997-1998 Los Angeles Galaxy[11]

  • Streak started September 7, 1997
  • Streak ended May 17, 1998

Note: This streak was achieved back when the MLS instituted a shootout rule to eliminate tie games. Only one of those wins was achieved through a shootout. This rule has since been abolished by the MLS after the 1999 season.


[edit] Australian rules football

[edit] Australian Football League

23 wins—1952-53 Geelong Cats


[edit] Gridiron football

[edit] American football

[edit] National Football League

Consecutive Regular Season Games Won

23 games—2008-2009 Indianapolis Colts

Consecutive Games Won (Regular Season and Playoffs)

21 games—2003-2004 New England Patriots

[edit] College football

NCAA Division I

47 games—1953-57 Oklahoma Sooners

  • Streak started October 10, 1953 (defeated Texas, 19-14)
  • Streak ended November 16, 1957 (ended by Notre Dame, 0-7)

NCAA Division II

40 games—2005-2007 Grand Valley State Lakers

Note: This streak includes playoff games.

NCAA Division III

55 games—2000-2003 Mount Union Purple Raiders

  • Streak started September 2, 2000 (defeated Allegheny, 48-21)
  • Streak ended December 20, 2003 (defeated by St. John's (MN), 6-24)

Note: This streak includes playoff games. Mount Union also holds the record for most consecutive regular season victories, winning 110 games between 1994-2005.

[edit] High school football

151 games—1992-2003 De La Salle High School

[edit] United Indoor Football

40 games—2005-2008 Sioux Falls Storm, Sioux Falls, SD

  • Streak started July, 2005
  • Streak ended March 29, 2008 (ended by Omaha Beef, 18-34)

Note: This is the longest winning streak in professional team sports history.


[edit] Arena football

[edit] AF2

24 wins—2000-2001 Quad City Steamwheelers


[edit] Canadian football

[edit] Canadian Football League

22 games—1948-1949 Calgary Stampeders

  • Streak started August 25, 1948
  • Streak ended October 22, 1949

Note: The streak only includes the regular season. It was also achieved back when the Stampeders played in the Western Interprovincial Football Union, which later became the Canadian Football League West Division.

[edit] Canadian Interuniversity Sport football

19 games—2004-2005 Laval Rouge et Or[12]

Note: The streak also includes playoff games.


[edit] Golf

[edit] LPGA Tour

5 wins (tie):

[edit] PGA Tour

11 wins—1945 Byron Nelson


[edit] Hockey

[edit] Canadian Hockey League

25 games—1984 Kitchener Rangers[13]

Note: The London Knights hold the CHL record for the longest unbeaten streak with 31 games in 2004. During that streak, the Knights compiled a record of 29-0-2-0.[14]


[edit] National Hockey League

[edit] (Longest winning streak by a team)

17 games—1992-1993 Pittsburgh Penguins

†Pittsburgh tied New Jersey 6-6 on April 10, 1993 to end the regular season. They won an additional three games to start the 1993 playoffs before losing for the first time in 21 games on April 25, 1993 to New Jersey, 1-4.

Note: The Philadelphia Flyers hold the record for the longest unbeaten streak with 35 games that started on October 14, 1979 (a 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs), and ended on January 6, 1980 (a 1-7 loss to the Minnesota North Stars). The Flyers finished the 35 game stretch with 10 ties.

[edit] (Longest winning streak by a goaltender)

17 games—1975-1976 Gilles Gilbert, Boston Bruins


[edit] Mind sports

[edit] Chess

25 games—1873-1882 Wilhelm Steinitz


[edit] Racquet sports

[edit] Badminton

[edit] High school badminton (United States)

504 team-against-team match-ups —1973-2005 Miller Place High School [15]

[edit] Squash

555 matches—1981-1986 Jahangir Khan

Note: This is the longest winning streak in sports history (in number of wins).

[edit] Tennis

[edit] (Men)

46 matches—1977 Guillermo Vilas (Open era record)

Note: Open era winning streaks on different playing surfaces are also recognized. Roger Federer currently holds the record for the longest winning streak on grass courts (65 matches) and hard courts (56 matches), Rafael Nadal currently holds the record for the longest winning streak on clay courts (81 matches), while Ivan Lendl currently holds the record for the longest winning streak on indoor courts (66 matches).

[edit] (Women)

74 matches—1984 Martina Navratilova

Note: Chris Evert currently holds the record for the longest winning streak on clay courts (125 matches), that is also the longest winning streak on single surface (male or female).

[edit] (Wheelchair tennis)

383 matches—2003-present Esther Vergeer


[edit] Sailing

[edit] Yachting - America's Cup

25 Cups—United States

  • Streak started 1851 (first race held), beating England
  • Streak ended 1983 (beaten by Australia II from Australia).

Note: This is the longest winning streak in the sport's history (in years), with 25 successive victories over 152 years.


[edit] Swimming

[edit] College Swimming (USA) (Men's)

20 dual meet wins—2000-2003 Stanford University


[edit] Volleyball

[edit] Beach volleyball

112 match wins, 19 tournament wins—2007-2008 - Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, United States

  • Streak started August 24, 2007 (defeated Ania Ruiz and Yarleen Santiago; 21-11, 21-9)
  • Streak ended August 31, 2008 (ended by Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh; 19-21, 21-10, 23-25)

[edit] Volleyball

[edit] College Volleyball (women)

102 matches—2006-current (last win Dec 19 2009) Penn State University

  • 3 consecutive national championships in women's volleyball
[edit] High school volleyball (USA) (Girls)

292 matches—1978-1987 Sweet Home High School (Amherst, New York)[17]

  • Streak started 1978
  • Streak ended 1987


[edit] Water polo

[edit] High school water polo (USA) (Girls)

222 matches Gulliver Preparatory, FL

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Julio César Chávez's record at oxRec.com
  2. ^ [http://www.theboxinghistorian.com/historic_boxing_stats.html Historic boxing statistics at theboxinghistorian.com
  3. ^ Jimmy Wilde's record at BoxRec.com
  4. ^ Pedro Carrasco's record at BoxRec.com
  5. ^ Sugar Ray Robinson's record at BoxRec.com
  6. ^ The Undertakers Wrestlemania Streak (Detailed Blog)
  7. ^ http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/weekly-feature-articles/2005/August/05/Camareros-record-of-56-consecutive-wins-turns-50.aspx
  8. ^ http://www.eloratings.net/Spain.htm
  9. ^ http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=bra/fixturesresults/gender=m/index.html
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h http://soccerlens.com/the-longest-winning-streaks-in-football-history/6000/
  11. ^ http://la.galaxy.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20071017&content_id=123994&vkey=news_lag&fext=.jsp&team=t106
  12. ^ http://www.cfl.ca/article/cis-top-10-rouge-et-or-still-undefeated
  13. ^ http://www.chl.ca/chlrecordBook.php?award=19
  14. ^ http://www.chl.ca/chlrecordBook.php?award=22
  15. ^ Longest Winning Streak in History??
  16. ^ http://www.itftennis.com/wheelchair/players/activity.asp?player=55000204
  17. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Home_High_School_(Amherst,_New_York)#cite_note-0
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