Winning streak (sports)

In sports, a winning streak refers to a consecutive number of games won. The smallest "winning streak" is 2 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 349-game 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 soccer 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.

Record winning streaks

Arena football

(af2)

24 wins -- 2000-2001 Quad City Steamwheelers

*Streak started April 15, 2000 (defeated Tulsa Talons, 66-27)
*Streak ended May 12, 2001 (ended by Tulsa Talons, 49-47)

Australian Football League

23 wins -- 1952-53 Geelong Cats

Beach Volleyball

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

*Streak started Aug 24 2007 (def. Ania Ruiz and Yarleen Santiago; 21-11, 21-9)
*Streak ended August 31, 2008 (loss to Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh; 21-19, 10-21, 25-23)

Boxing

49 wins -- 1952-1956 Rocky Marciano

Note: Rocky Marciano remains the only heavyweight champion in boxing history to retire having won every fight in his professional career.

Canadian Football League

22 games -- 1948-1949 Calgary Stampeders

*Streak started August 25, 1948
*Streak ended October 22, 1949Note: 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.

Chess

25 games -- 1873-1882 Wilhelm Steinitz

College Baseball

*NCAA Division I: 34 games, done by Texas in 1977 and Florida Atlantic in 1999
*NCAA Division II: 46 games, done by Savannah St. in 2000
*NCAA Division III: 44 games, done by Trinity College (Connecticut) in 2008

College Basketball

88 games -- 1971 - 1974 UCLA Bruins

*Streak started January 30, 1971
*Streak ended January 19, 1974 (ended by Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 70-71)

College Football

(NCAA Division I)

47 games -- 1953-57 Oklahoma Sooners

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

(NCAA Division III)

55 games -- 2000-2003 Mount Union College

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

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

College Soccer (Women's)

169 games -- 1986 - 1990 North Carolina

*Streak started September 30, 1986
*Streak ended September 17, 1990

College Swimming (Men's)

20 dual meet wins -- 2000 - 2003 Stanford University

Special note: Since 1980, Kenyon College has won 29 consecutive men's swimming championships, the most total consecutive championships won at any level of sports in the world.

Cricket

=(Test)=

16 matches -- 1999-2001 Australia

*Streak started on 17 October 1999 (defeated Zimbabwe by 10 wickets at Harare) [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1999-2000/AUS_IN_ZIM/SCORECARDS/AUS_ZIM_T_14-18OCT1999.html (scorecard)]
*Streak ended on 15 March 2001 (lost to India by 171 runs at Calcutta) [http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/2000-01/AUS_IN_IND/SCORECARDS/AUS_IND_T2_11-15MAR2001.html (scorecard)]

=(ODI)=

21 matches -- 2003 Australia

*Streak started on 11 January 2003 (defeated England by 7 runs at Hobart) [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2002-03/OD_TOURNEYS/VBS/SCORECARDS/AUS_ENG_VBS_ODI7_11JAN2003.html (scorecard)]
*Streak ended on 25 May 2003 (lost to West Indies by 39 runs at Port of Spain) [http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/2002-03/AUS_IN_WI/SCORECARDS/AUS_WI_ODI5_25MAY2003.html (scorecard)]

=Football (soccer)=

(International)

14 games (tie):

- 1997 Brazil [http://www.eloratings.net/Brazil.htm]
*Streak started June 10, 1997 (defeated England, 1-0)
*Streak ended December 14, 1997 (draw against Australia, 0-0)Note: Brazil also holds the unbeaten record of 36 games from 16 Dec 1993 to 21 Jan 1996.

- 2003-2004 France [http://www.eloratings.net/France.htm]
*Streak started March 29, 2003 (defeated Malta, 6-0)
*Streak ended March 31, 2004 (draw against the Netherlands, 0-0)

(Portuguese Liga)

29 games -- 1971-1973 S.L. Benfica

(Prva HNL)

28 games -- 2007-2008 Dinamo Zagreb

(Scottish Premier League)

25 games -- 2003-2004 Celtic F.C.

(Eredivisie)

22 games -- 1987-1988 PSV Eindhoven

(Serie A)

17 games -- 2006-2007 F.C. Internazionale Milano

(La Liga)

15 games -- 1960-1961 Real Madrid C.F.

(Fußball-Bundesliga)

15 games -- 2005-2006 Bayern Munich

(English Premier League)

14 games -- 2002 Arsenal F.C.
*Streak started February 10, 2002
*Streak ended August 18, 2002

(Major League Soccer)

15 games -- 1997-1998 L.A. Galaxy
*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.

Formula One

7 wins -- 2004 Michael Schumacher

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

High school badminton

504 games -- 1973-2005 Miller Place High School

*Streak started 1973
*Streak ended April, 2005 by Smithtown High School

High school basketball

159 games -- 1919-1925 Passaic High School

*Streak started December 17, 1919
*Streak ended February 6, 1925 (ended by Hackensack Hill High School, 35-39)

High school football

151 games -- 1992-2003 De La Salle High School

*Streak started September 11, 1992 (started by Merced High School)
*Streak ended September 4, 2004 (ended by Bellevue High School)

High school water polo

(Girls)

222 matches -- 2001-"present" Gulliver Preparatory, FL

*Streak started 2001
*Streak continues (eight straight Florida championships) [ [http://www.miamiherald.com/620/story/511551.html Gulliver, Ransom win water polo titles - 04/27/2008 - MiamiHerald.com ] ]

High school wrestling

459 matches -- 1974-2008 Brandon High School, FL

*Streak started January 28, 1974
*Streak ended January 8, 2008 (ended by South Dade High School)

Horse racing

Horse -- 56 races -- 1953-1955 Camarero [http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/weekly-feature-articles/2005/August/05/Camareros-record-of-56-consecutive-wins-turns-50.aspx]

*Streak started April 19, 1953
*Streak ended August 1, 1955

Jockey -- 9 races (tied) -- September 10-12, 1930 Albert Adams and July 30-31, 1993 Tony Black

LPGA

5 wins (tie):

- 1978 Nancy Lopez

- 2004-2005 Annika Sorenstam

Major League Baseball

(Longest winning streak by a team)

26 games -- 1916 New York Giants
*Streak started September 7, 1916 (defeated Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-1)
*Streak ended September 30, 1916 (ended by Boston Braves, 8-3)

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.

(Longest winning streak by a pitcher)

24 consecutive winning decisions -- 1936-1937 Carl Hubbell, New York Giants
*Streak started July 17, 1936 (defeated Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-0)
*Streak ended May 30, 1937 (ended by Brooklyn Dodgers, 10-3)

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.

NASCAR

5 wins (tie):

- 1971 Richard Petty

- 1971 Bobby Allison

National Basketball Association

33 games -- 1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers

*Streak started November 05, 1971 (defeated Baltimore Bullets, 110-106)
*Streak ended January 7, 1972 (ended by Milwaukee Bucks, 120-104)

National Football League

21 games -- 2006-2008 New England Patriots

*Streak started December 17, 2006 (defeated Houston Texans, 40-7)
*Streak ended September 21, 2008 (ended by Miami Dolphins, 38-13)

*Note: The NFL excludes exhibition games and playoff games from their official statistics. The all-time record for consecutive wins, including playoff games, is also 21 by the Patriots, from October 5, 2003 (a 38-30 win against Tennessee) to October 31, 2004 (a 34-20 loss at Pittsburgh).

National Hockey League

(Longest winning streak by a team)

17 games -- 1992-1993 Pittsburgh Penguins

*Streak started March 9, 1993 (defeated Boston Bruins, 3-2)
*Streak ended April 10, 1993 (ended by New Jersey Devils, 6-6†)

†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.

(Longest winning streak by a goaltender)

17 games -- 1975-1976 Gilles Gilbert, Boston Bruins

Professional Golfers' Association

11 wins -- 1945 Byron Nelson

=Squash=

555 matches -- 1981-1986 Jahangir Khan

* Streak started 1981 (defeated Geoff Hunt)
* Streak ended 1986 (defeated by Ross Norman)

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

Tennis

=(Men)=

46 matches -- 1977 Guillermo Vilas (Open era record)
* Streak started July 11 1977 (defeated Alvin Gardener in Kitzbuhel)
* Streak ended Oct 1 1977 (defeated by Ilie Năstase in Aix en Provence)

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).

=(Women)=

74 matches -- 1984 Martina Navratilova
* Streak started February 1984 (defeated Nancy Yeargin)
* Streak ended December 1984 (ended by Helena Sukova)

(Wheelchair tennis)

350 matches* -- 2003-"present" Esther Vergeer
*Streak started January 2003
*Most recent win September 15, 2008 (defeated Korie Homan) [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympian/2008-09/15/content_7027454.htm]

Note: *There is no consensus as to the number of matches that Vergeer has won during her streak as various sources have reported varying tallies.

Track and Field

(400 metre hurdles)

122 races -- 1977-1987 Edwin Moses

*Streak started September 1977
*Streak ended June 1987

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, 34-18)Note: This is the longest winning streak in professional team sports history.

=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.

ee also

*Losing streak (sport)
*Perfect season

References