In an extraordinarily impressive feat, the UConn women’s basketball team set an NCAA record for consecutive wins, defeating Notre Dame 59-44 to win their 71st consecutive game. During this streak UConn is 13-0 against top 10 opponents, beating them by an average of 26.2 points. No, that wasn’t a typo. They haven’t won a game against a ranked opponent by less than double digits. They haven’t lost since the semifinals of the NCAA tournament 2 years ago. That’s damn impressive.
So why then, asks the media, aren’t the Huskies getting huge amount of buzz? Well, there’s a few reasons. First, there’s something to be said for being too dominant. It’s no fun watching a team that blows out its best competition every time. UConn tends to crush the best teams in women’s college basketball. I personally just write off every game UConn plays in as a Huskies blow out and I’m not willing to spend my time watching and waiting for that one game they lose.
Second, there’s the inevitable fact that, right or wrong, women’s basketball just isn’t as popular as men’s basketball. For the media’s current “why isn’t there any buzz” feigned surprise they have certainly contributed to the problem– they control what has “buzz” and what doesn’t. Sportcenter spends huge blocks of time talking about the players in men’s college basketball, analyzing who’s in and out of the NCAA tournament, and showing highlights. Women’s basketball analysts are almost never on Sportscenter unless someone throws a punch or breaks a record. That’s because women’s basketball doesn’t get the ratings– there’s not a lot of dunking, it’s less physical, sexism, etc– you’ve heard all the excuses for that. But the media can’t barely cover women’s basketball outside of UConn’s exploits and be shocked when no one cares that they break an NCAA record.
Regardless of the buzz, the Huskies are on an incredible run. It’s tough to win that many games in a row no matter who your competition is, especially when everyone is pumped to beat you. It’s ridiculously impressive and UConn should be proud.
