Not since 1976, when the Indiana Hoosiers accomplished the feat, has a Division I college basketball team finished the season undefeated. Halfway through the 1999-2000 season, the rare perfect season remains a possibility for only one team, fourth-ranked Syracuse.
At 18-0, the Orangemen have inarguably compiled an impressive -- though by no means unheard of -- string of victories to start the year. Connecticut won 19 consecutive games to start off last season on its way to a national title and Utah won 20 in a row the year before that. In 1991, UNLV won their first 37 games before falling to Duke in the national semifinal game.
That UNLV team was perhaps the last, best chance for a team to go undefeated. While they had the same core group of players returning from a national championship team, most top-level teams today are annually undergoing major roster changes due to defections to the NBA draft. Thus, teams that might have the ability go undefeated just don't have the chemistry necessary to put together 35 or more consecutive wins.
Ultimately, a number of different factors can knock a team from the ranks of the unbeaten. Top-ranked Cincinnati lost to cross-town rival Xavier earlier this season in one of those proverbial "you can throw out the records when these two teams get together" games. Playing a top ranked team often gives lesser opponents motivation to play harder, especially in rivalry match-ups, when pride is on the line.
Second-ranked Stanford's only loss so far this season came at the hands of Arizona -- another a top-five team. The Cardinal's inability to remain perfect stems greatly from their ambitious schedule. In addition to a difficult Pac-10 schedule, Stanford has also played Duke and Auburn, both top-10 teams.
Third-ranked Duke is one of the hottest teams in the country right now, not having lost since dropping their first two games to Stanford and Connecticut. Their early season jitters can probably be attributed to lineup that relies more on freshmen than seniors.
Syracuse, however, has been able to avoid these types of early season losses for a number of reasons. First, no one really expected big things from Syracuse this year. They were a top-25 team to start the season, but weren't saddled with expectations to win every single night. Second, the Orangemen had an easy non-conference schedule. They played no top-25 teams and all ten of their non-conference games were at home " hardly the schedule of a national powerhouse.
The most important factor in Syracuse's early season success, however, is their lineup. Few other teams are able to return their top seven players, including all five starters. While the Orangemen were inconsistent last year, they have benefited from improved chemistry that only comes from time spent playing together.
So, what are the chances of Syracuse's going undefeated this year? Most people -- myself included -- agree their chances are slim. Then again, no one expected them to come this far without losing.
A month ago, when the Orangemen were 10-0, analysts said that it was fluke " they hadn't played anyone and all of their games have been at home. Now they've won five road games, including tough contests at Miami and Boston College, and they simply destroyed seventh-ranked Connecticut, ending any doubt about their ability to play with the big boys. Most importantly, they have shown the ability and composure to overcome adversity. Monday night they trailed St. John's for much of the game, but scored 20 of the last 28 points to overtake the Red Storm.
As the season wears on, however, Syracuse will have trouble remaining perfect. They still have half of a brutal Big East schedule to finish and if they make it through that unscathed they have the Big East tournament and the NCAA tournament. It is likely that they will simply have a bad game somewhere down the line, and without an obvious superstar player to take control of the game, no one will be there to help them. They are halfway to a perfect season, but the difficult half lies ahead of them and now everyone will be gunning to knock off the nation's only unbeaten team.
