Longest college football win streaks

Records are made to be broken, but the Oklahoma Sooners may not have much to worry about when it comes to at least one of their cherished football standards. Given the balance and competitiveness of major college football these days, the idea of a team winning 47 consecutive games — as OU did from 1953-57 — seems unlikely, to say the least.

The closest to approach that mark in the last 50 years was Toledo, which won 35 straight from 1969-71. Most recently, USC ran off 34 in a row from 2003 to 2005. Miami (Fla.) also won 34 consecutive from 2000 to 2002, but most of the other long streaks are relatively old news.

Here’s a list of the top runs of sustained excellence in major college history:

47 — Oklahoma (1953-57)

39 — Washington (1908-14)

37 — Yale (1890-93)

37 — Yale (1887-89)

35 — Toledo (1969-71)

34 — USC (2003-05)

34 — Miami, Fla.  (2000-02)

34 — Penn (1894-96)

31 — Oklahoma (1948-50)

31 — Pittsburgh (1914-18)

31 — Penn (1896-98)

30 – Texas (1968-70)

29 — Miami, Fla. (1990-93)

29 — Michigan (1901-03)

Source: ESPN Sports Almanac 2008