Baylor teams now hold 4 of Big 12’s longest winning streaks
When the Baylor men’s basketball team defeated Oklahoma last week, the win was the Bears’ 23rd in a row — the longest winning streak in Big 12 men’s basketball history. From Nov. 15 until Feb. 22 — more than three months — head coach Scott Drew’s squad met its objective of winning the game in front of them each time, including six wins over ranked teams and their first-ever victory at Allen Fieldhouse. It was an impressive run that, even as the Bears now begin a new winning streak, has historically foreshadowed great things for Baylor teams.
In fact, the Baylor men are not the only team on campus to own a Big 12-record winning streak; Baylor women’s basketball, baseball and men’s tennis can all claim the same honor, and in each case thus far, the teams’ record runs have been just one of many highlights for each squad.
In addition to this year’s men’s basketball team, meet the other Baylor teams that own the Big 12’s longest winning streaks:
* Women’s Basketball — From 2011-13, the Lady Bears won 42 straight games — the longest winning streak in Big 12 women’s basketball history, and the seventh longest in NCAA women’s basketball history.
The bulk of that run came in 2011-12, as the Lady Bears became the first NCAA basketball team (men’s or women’s) ever to go 40-0 in a season. Led by Lady Bear legends Brittney Griner and Odyssey Sims, the winning streak carried head coach Kim Mulkey’s team to Big 12 regular season and tournament titles and the program’s second national championship.
* Baseball — The 2012 Baylor baseball team’s season began innocently enough, as the Bears went just 11-7 in their first 18 games. Then, starting with a three-game sweep of Texas Tech, the Bears won and continued to win — a Big 12-record 24 straight victories, led by current Los Angeles Dodgers star Max Muncy and a Brazos River beaver whose appearance brought the team luck.
Buoyed by that streak, Baylor went on to win the program’s third Big 12 title and fall just two outs shy of a fourth College World Series appearance.
* Men’s Tennis — Baylor’s men’s tennis team put together a history-making run in 2004-05, winning an incredible 57 matches in a row — the most in Big 12 history, and the second longest in NCAA men’s tennis history.
The 2004 squad won its last 24 matches, all the way through to the NCAA national championship — the first NCAA team title in Baylor history. The 2005 team just kept on going, winning its first 33 matches before falling in the national title match to UCLA.
Time will tell what 2020 holds for Baylor men’s basketball, but with a Big 12 championship well within reach and March Madness still to come, the opportunity for further special accomplishments beckons.
Sic ’em, Bears!