Woke up to Kenny Chesney's "I Go Back" this morning. Great song.

And I go back to watchin summer fade to fall
Growin up too fast and I do recall
Wishin time would stop right in its tracks
Everytime I hear that song, I go back, I go back

Back when I was in high school, a guy named Geno Auriemma, an Italian in Storrs, Conn., was leading the Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team to three-straight NCAA Championships and a 70-game winning streak with the likes of Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Diana Taurasi and others.

That it was UConn, a program that had just one winning season before Auriemma's arrival, winning so many games only served notice that there was indeed another superpower in the sport, the likes of which have only been seen in Knoxville, Tenn.

The streak was the longest in the history of women's basketball, until last night.

Last night, for the second time in less than a decade, UConn set a new mark, beating Notre Dame for their 71st-straight win. It was their 32nd win of this season, bringing their record since 2000-2001 to 335-27. And by the way, in 1999-2000 all they did was go 36-1 and win a national championship.

Geno arrived in 1985 and immediately turned the program around. Their first NCAA tournament came a few years later and first national championship in 1995 with Rebecca Lobo (who, coincidentally is married to my favorite sports writer, Steve Rushin). In his 25 years, Auriemma has more than 700 wins with six championships (five since 2000), 14 Big East titles and 21 straight NCAA appearances.

But this streak is different.

During the first one, there were buzzer-beaters and late game comebacks. Auriemma admitted the other day that his 2002 team had a little trouble scoring points. Also, sometimes things just happen in basketball, injuries, bad games, etc. Which is what makes this particular stat so mind-blowing.

Every one of Connecticut's 71-straight wins has been by double-digits.

Not one of the teams has played the Huskies within 10 points and most haven't been closer than 20. Last night, despite playing an off-game against a top-10 ranked team, they won by 15. During the streak UConn has knocked off 22 ranked teams. Earlier this season I watched them played then-No. 2 Stanford. The Cardinal hung around for a half. Then, just minutes into the second half it was a 25-point game.

Tina Charles and Maya Moore finished 1-2 in the Big East player of the year voting. They may do the same for the national award. And unlike in the past, they have the ability to make a considerable amount of money playing overseas. Obviously not on par with men, but still quite a bit.

When Sports Illustrated named its Top 25 teams of 2000-09, including NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Men's and Women's College Basketball and College Football, Connecticut was third, behind only the Lakers and the Patriots.

At this point it is probably safe to say that only two college basketball programs in history are better than Geno Auriemma's Huskies: John Wooden's UCLA program and Pat Summitt's Tennessee Volunteers (who's coaching story is almost more interesting than Geno's). But right now, and in the last 15 years, only Tennessee has been even close, having also won five titles since 1996.

So when you're not working and watching March Madness, remember the best team will be playing San Antonio, not Indy, looking for its sixth championship in 11 years, while trying extend its winning streak to 78 games.

Like I said, mind blowing.


More links later.