Hey, sports fans, it’s time for the most cherished tradition on ye olde blog. That would be revealing the pair of teams that has gone the most consecutive days without losing on the same day. Useless trivia? Yes, but moderately fun nonetheless. There are stories behind all of these streaks, but the stories aren’t as important as reveling in the odd partnerships that are formed in this venture.

We start with a clean slate this season. Each of the top ten streaks entering last season was snapped, demonstrating just how fragile these bits of trivia can be. There are dozens of combinations of teams given the 351 that make up our college hoops universe. Maybe even more than that if you do the math, and so some of those pairs are bound to defy the odds and go many years without losing on the same day. However, the individual streaks aren’t likely to defy the odds much longer.

Last season’s record holder was the odd pair of Duke and Savannah State. It was a streak more interesting in life than death. On January 25th, Duke lost at Miami 80-69 and Savannah State lost at Norfolk State 92-73. After a span of 2,607 days the old cliche, “Duke and Savannah State never lose on the same day”, proved false without any drama.

Currently the longest streak is owned by the pair of San Diego State and Indiana. The cute couple last lost together on January 9, 2010 when Indiana blew a ten-point lead with ten minutes left and fell to Illinois, 66-60 while the Aztecs coughed up a 14-point lead with five minutes left to lose at Wyoming 85-83. Coincidentally, it was also the last time San Diego State would blow a lead with five minutes left for the next six years.

The chance of the streak surviving to this space next season is not good. Not good at all, even despite the fact they play on the same date just eight times and two of those involve Indiana’s buy games. Here are the dates on the schedule shared by the duo.

                                                        Chc of 
           Indiana               San Diego St.          Survival
12/10  Houston Baptist (H, 99%) Arizona St. (H, 72%)     100%
12/22  Austin Peay (H, 99%)     Southern Miss (N, 89%)   100%
 1/7   Illinois (H, 86%)        Boise St. (A, 59%)        94%
 1/10  Maryland (A, 53%)        San Jose St. (H, 94%)     97%
 2/12  Michigan (H, 73%)        Nevada (H, 80%)           95%
 2/15  Minnesota (A, 62%)       Utah St. (A, 57%)         84%
 2/25  Northwestern (H, 81%)    Colorado St. (A, 67%)     94%
 3/4   Ohio St. (A, 43%)        New Mexico (A, 51%)       72%

Do the math, assuming independence, and there’s a 48% chance that both teams avoid a loss on each of the eight days. But the two will probably have more shared dates in their respective conference tournaments and possibly in the postseason, as well. So the odds are clearly against them. But that’s what they said about Britney Spears and Kevin Federline and they lasted a good three years.

Here are the ten longest streaks entering the season. Behold the unusual ACC pairing of UNC and Miami!

1. San Diego State/Indiana (1/9/10)
2. Wichita State/ NC A&T (1/16/10)
3. Duke/Davidson (1/20/10)
4. Murray State/Villanova (11/26/10)
5. Wright State/Wichita State (12/4/10)
5. Wichita State/Norfolk State (12/4/10)
7. UNC/Miami FL (12/18/10)
7. Iona/UNC (12/18/10)
9. Kansas/High Point (1/22/11)
9. Gonzaga/North Carolina Central (1/22/11)