L.A. Clippers and Six Teams That Ended The Worst Losing Streaks In Sports

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Being on a record-breaking losing streak has to be extremely embarrassing. Ask the Cleveland Cavaliers about that one.

However, it can't feel much better to be the team that loses to the streaking team. Just ask the L.A. Clippers who have the glorious distinction of ending the Cavs' NBA-record 26-game hiccup.

The Clippers can take comfort in the fact that the Cavs' infamy will live on much longer than their own.

In a couple months, most people won't even remember who lost to Cleveland and ended a skid that began five days before Christmas and ended three days before Valentines Day.

But for now, and in celebration of the Cavs' overtime victory, let's take a look at some of the other worst losing streaks in sports and which teams ended them.

Remember, this is just a list, not a ranking.

NCAA Division I (FBS), Northern Illinois

The Northwestern Wildcats own the worst losing streak in FBS history at 34 games.

In fact, Northwestern was so bad that they got outscored 505-82 in the 1981 season while in the middle of their slide.

It was so bad that Northwestern students stormed the field after a 61-14 home loss to Michigan State, tore down the goal posts, and started cheering "We're the worst!"

Who did they finally beat?

Northern Illinois, 31-6 on Sept. 25, 1982.

NCAA Division I (FCS), Langston State

So this streak isn't the big boys of the FBS, but the streak is so bad I had to include it.

The Prairie View A&M Panthers lost 80 games from 1989 to 1998.

That's almost a decade without a single win!

They finally ended the streak in 1999 by beating Langston State 14-12.

Not wanting people to think it was a fluke, the Panthers went 2-9 that year.

Baby steps, right?

As far as Langston State, it appears that they have a football team. However, there is no "football" tab on  their athletics page.

NCAA Division I Men's Basketball, Bryant University

The New Jersey Tech Highlanders own the record for the longest losing streak in NCAA Division I men's basketball at 51 games.

They ended the nearly two-year long skid by beating Bryant University 61-51 on Jan. 22, 2009.

MLB, St. Louis Browns/Brown Stockings

The Louisville Colonels own the MLB record for consecutive losses by dropping 26 games in a row.

You have to go back to 1889 to discover that they finally beat the St. Louis Browns (now Cardinals) on June 23 of that year.

The Colonels' manager resigned on June 24.

NHL, California Golden Seals and Winnipeg Jets

The NHL has two teams that both lost 17 games in a row. Thus, there are two teams that ended those streaks.

First, the 1974 Washington Capitals lost 17 games in a row from Feb. 18 to March 26, 1975.

It wasn't just that streak, they had multiple long losing streaks during their 8-67-5 season in which they accumulated 21 points.

However, they beat the Golden Bears on March 28 to halt the skid three games shy of 20 games.

The expansion San Jose Sharks finished 11-71-2 and scored just 24 points in 1992-1993.

They would beat the Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 14 to avoid owning the all-time record by themselves.

NFL, New Orleans Saints

The expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers began their life in the NFL with 26 consecutive losses.

After all of those losses, the Bucs beat New Orleans in the Superdome on Dec. 11, 1977.

They then started a winning streak by beating the St. Louis Cardinals to finish 2-12 that season.

The streak would end at two games as they lost the first game of the 1978 season.

NBA, L.A. Clippers

It wasn't that long ago (last season) that the Nets were the laughingstock of the NBA.

However, the Cavs seem destined to claim the worst record in the NBA this year and increase the number of ping pong balls they get in the NBA Draft.

It began with a Dec. 20 loss to the Celtics and spanned over six weeks until Cleveland found a way to get past the mighty Clippers in overtime.

If the Clippers had to be a part of this streak, I think they'd rather be the team that lost one game to end the streak rather than the one that lost 26 to keep it going.

All kidding aside, the Cavs are just awful, aren't they?