Dominance ignored

In the landscape of sports there is likely some argument over what would be the Everest. Personally I don't think anything tops the NFL for pro sports or Division 1 football for collegiate athletics. We're a football crazy country. As an outlier to that, I think that the evidence that the NCAA Men's basketball tournament rivals the super bowl for viewership, which is a testament to the Super Bowl since it's one event versus 67 games.

But the sports landscape is much broader then the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA Football & Basketball. Sure there are other sports shown as brief highlights on that E network but that never really does justice to the athletes for their work. They probably would say they don't need the attention, but needing and deserving are different things. The fact that there isn't as much profitability or national prominence shouldn't matter.

To that end, I feel like highlight 2 of the most dominant sports programs over the last 5+ years that haven't gotten nearly enough attention in my estimation.

That and more after the break!
Before I reveal the name's of the programs and some important details about them I want to compare and contrast them with one of the most dominant sports programs over the same period of time.
The Alabama Crimson football team. Since the beginning of the 2011 season Bama has won 62 games, with 7 losses. That's roughly 90% of their games played with 3 championships over the span. That's dominance. As annoying as it is to hear about Bame all the time, that alone makes it more understandable.

So what about the school's that haven't gotten enough attention?

First up: the Uconn Huskies woman's basketball team. Over the last five years they've won 178 games, with 10 losses. That's a 95% win share. Think what you will about the sport and I wouldn't argue it but this is about recognizing under appreciated excellence. They've also won the last three championships and were in the final four when they didn't win five years ago. In case you noticed the math, that's only four championships, well I'm including this season as the fifth. The one season predating my time frame they had a 36-2 record and were in the final four then as well. The sports are very different but to win 95% of games is a very impressive level of dominance.

Second up: the NDSU Bison Football team. Since the focus of this blog is local angle sports the dominance that they've had is the reason for the parameter of five years and the motivation for writing it up. The preeminent measure of dominance is championships. The Bizon (because people say it wrong) have won the last five championships in their level (1AA). The streak could be six but they lost in over time to the eventual champs before the current streak started. During the run they've won 71 games to only 5 losses. Which is a 93% win percentage. That includes 4 wins over FBS teams and having several of their best players get drafted or graduate yet get replaced. Sure they've had an ESPN broadcast live over each of the last 3 years, which was a special occasion and a lot of fun to be apart of but that still doesn't really do it justice.

Whether it be for woman's basketball or "small" school college football, or any other sport, dominance deserves to be recognized nationally just as much as the latest win by Bama, the Patriots, Warriors or Yankees. Unfortunately, it comes down to $ too often. Well it's not about the money for me and I think that excellence deserves recognition.

So for the Huskie women or the Bizon football or all other dominant sports programs, congratulations for your success!