Geno Auriemma has seen hundreds of players come through UConn over the past 30 years.
The eighth-ranked Huskies passed Tennessee on Monday, earning a spot in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll for a record 566th consecutive week, breaking a tie with the Lady Vols for the most all-time.
During their 30-year run, the Huskies have never been worse than No. 18 — the team’s ranking in the preseason poll of 1993-94 when the streak started.
“Like many things that this UConn program has accomplished over the past 30 years, this ranked streak is something that no one on that team could have fathomed,” said Lobo, who starred on the team that started the run and now is an analyst for ESPN.
The Huskies have won a record 11 national championships since that streak began and have been No. 1 in the poll 250 of the weeks. UConn has also been in the top 10 for an incredible 548 of the 566 weeks, including a run of 313 straight polls.
“The most impressive part of UConn’s excellence is the way they’ve sustained it,” Lobo said.
UConn has had many eye-popping streaks over the past 30 years that have all ended, including a 111-game winning streak; 1,083 consecutive games without back-to-back losses; and their run of 14 consecutive Final Four appearances.
The poll streak will end too at some point, but for now Auriemma will enjoy the run.
“We’re pretty proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish,” Auriemma said.
No. 20 Maryland has the second-longest active streak, appearing in the poll now for 251 consecutive weeks. The Huskies will welcome the Terrapins on Thursday night.
TOP NOTCH TEAM
South Carolina’s first game as the No. 1 team will be on Thursday against in-state rival Clemson. The Gamecocks next three games are at home before visiting North Carolina for the ACC/SEC Challenge on Nov. 30.
TAKING A STEP BACK
After the opening week saw a plethora of top ranked matchups, there are only two games this week that feature Top 25 teams playing against each other. The Maryland-UConn game and No. 4 Utah visits 21st-ranked Baylor on Tuesday.
STREAK’S OVER
Saint Peter’s ended a 32-game losing streak by beating Central Connecticut State 61-57 on Monday night.
___ Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here ___ AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball