Hot Streaks

Here are the longest active NCAA Division I Men's Basketball winning streaks:

• University of Connecticut: 9
  
• University of Michigan: 5
  
• McNeese State University: 4
  
• Birmingham-Southern College: 3
  
• Columbia University: 2
  
• University of Tennessee at Martin: 2
  
• Brown University: 1
  
• Gardner-Webb University: 1
  
• Qunnipiac University: 1
  

As Tony Kornheiser would say, "That's it. That's the list." All other teams lost their last game. Why? 63 teams lost in the NCAA tournament. 39 lost in the NIT. Most teams that didn't make those tournaments played in their conference tournaments. In general, if they didn't make the NCAA tournament, they must have lost in the conference tournament. That leaves the teams that didn't play in the conference tournament. Those teams are generally really bad, and thus unlikely to have won their last game. So how did the teams on the list make it?

• University of Connecticut: Won NCAA tournament.
  
• University of Michigan: Won NIT tournament.
  
• McNeese State University: Won last 4 games despite being really bad.
  
• Birmingham-Southern College: Won conference tournament, ineligible for automatic bid to NCAA tournament.
  
• Columbia University: No Conference Tournament in Ivy League.
  
• University of Tennessee at Martin: Won last 2 games despite being really bad.
  
• Brown University: No Conference Tournament in Ivy League.
  
• Gardner-Webb University: Won last game despite being really bad.
  
• Qunnipiac University: Won last game despite being really bad.
  

Why do I notice this? I just think it's funny that the University of Michigan (my alma mater) has the second longest winning streak despite being in the "others receiving votes" category of the AP Poll.