UConn Women's Basketball: Why Loss To Stanford Is Good for Women's Hoops

The University of Connecticut recently took over the all-time winning streak from the UCLA men's basketball teams of the 70s. In a game against Stanford last night, that streak came to an end as the Huskies lost 71-59.

The streak came to an end at 90 games, a record that will be difficult for any team to reach. What does the loss mean for both UConn and women's basketball in general. I'm here to argue that the loss is in fact a good thing.

Wait, what? You're thinking that I can't possibly be serious, but hear me out.

As a result of the game, Stanford, the team that Connecticut last lost to before the streak began, seems to be the only team that can compete with them. In other words, we have ourselves a rivalry in the world of women's basketball.

People are naturally drawn to rivalries. Baseball had always had Yankees-Red Sox, college football has Ohio State-Michigan and Alabama-Auburn, among many others, basketball has Lakers-Celtics and men's basketball has, of course, Duke-North Carolina.

Now, women's basketball will have Connecticut-Stanford. This rivalry is unlike many of the other ones in sports. In most, you have back and forth action, where one team will win a few, then the other will win a few, and the like.

This rivalry, however, has a team that can beat any other women's college basketball team, with one exception. It's like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's rivalry. Federer in particular has beaten the top tennis players in the world on many occasions, and has a myriad of Grans Slam championships to prove it. His record against Nadal? Eight wins, 14 losses.

Tennis seemed mostly forgotten between the era of Agassi-Sampras and the Nadal-Federer era, with little on the men's side being broadcast. Likewise, until this streak by UConn, women's basketball had not been getting much love. As they approached UCLA's mark, they gained more and more eyes watching to see if they could do it.

Now, the streak may be over, but we have ourselves the foundation of a rivalry set. UConn and Stanford have met in the tournament semifinals two straight times, and could easily meet in the semifinals or finals again. If there is any sense on the NCAA's end, when the possibility emerges, they should focus all their marketing on that.

Can you name the team with the second longest winning streak in either men's or women's basketball? I'm fairly sure the latter is UConn as well. This further helps to prove my point. A tough rivalry between two elite powers is far better than an unstoppable force.

In college sports, people don't remember undefeated seasons as often as underdogs conquering the odds and powers squaring off. Do we remember that one of North Carolina's national title wins came in the finals against an undefeated Illinois squad? Probably not. Had Illinois won, they would have been remembered as winning the championship first, and being undefeated second.

Does one need a reason beyond the rivalry factor to consider this good? If so, then here's two others. First, this win streak has helped to launch Maya Moore into nearly being a household name. Usually, in order to get people to watch women's sports, you need that household name to draw in viewers. Tennis has the Williams sisters, softball had Jennie Finch and basketball in the past has had Rebecca Lobo, Tamika Catchings and others.

After all, why did we watch women's Olympic swimming in 2008? To see if Dara Torres could pull off the gold with her story, of course. The name is what brings the fans. The second reason why this could be good happens to be one that's only one word.

Tennessee.

Between 1995 and 2007, Tennessee and Connecticut were two of the top college teams in the country under the leadership of coaches Pat Summitt and Geno Auriemma. The rivalry began in a televised matchup in 1995, and the teams faced off 24 times, including four title matches.

In 2007, they discontinued the rivalry, one which did gain national attention for some time. With that gone, there was a void in women's basketball, with no story for the casual fan. There was nothing to make them say, "Hey, I should try watching these women's college teams." The story of only one team able to beat a powerhouse is a story that these types of fans can grab on to.

The UConn-Tennessee rivalry should be restarted as well, but that's a story for another day. People flocked to the rivalry for a while when it happened, and people will flock to a UConn-Stanford rivalry. At least, I would hope that they do. If they don't then this loss ends the best news story women's basketball has had in a long time. At least the rivalry will keep diehard fans interested on top of casual ones.

Still, could Auriemma and many others be right that no one cares about the record itself, just the trouncing of UCLA's? It seems like it. Already people seem to be moving on to the next story. Ironically, if people really don't care about women's basketball at all, then this loss simply stops the story being shoved down the throats of people who don't care, while those who do can enjoy what's yet to come.