A perfect season.
It’s what every team and coach dreams of, but it’s nearly impossible to achieve. You need exceptional talent, excellent coaching, an aversion to injuries and the ability to focus and not get distracted by what’s ahead. But you also need a great deal of luck. Everything has to fall your way.
The South Carolina women’s basketball team has a chance to join some elite company if it wins the national title Sunday. The Gamecocks would finish 39-0 and become the 10th women’s team o record a perfect record. But first, they have to get by Caitlin Clark and Iowa.
The 1972 Miami Dolphins went 17-0, winning Super Bowl VII. Coached by Don Shula, those Dolphins are the only team in America’s four major leagues to have a perfect regular and postseason. Three NFL teams have had perfect regular seasons:  the 1934 Chicago Bears, the 1942 Chicago Bears, and the 2007 New England Patriots.
In the three other major sports leagues – the NBA, MLB and NHL – no team has run the table. The number of games (82, 162 and 82, respectively) in the regular season make the feat a near impossibility.
In men’s college basketball, eight teams have notched perfect seasons that include winning the NIT or NCAA Tournament. UCLA has done four times.
In women’s basketball, 10 teams make that list with UConn appearing six times.
Which men’s college basketball teams have gone undefeated?
Eight teams have posted perfect marks since the NIT began in 1938 and the NCAA Tournament started in 1939. This includes regular season and postseason games.
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1939: LIU Blackbirds (24–0, NIT)
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1956: San Francisco Dons (29–0, NCAA champion)
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1957: North Carolina Tar Heels (32–0, NCAA champion)
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1964: UCLA Bruins (30–0, NCAA champion)
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1967: UCLA Bruins (30–0, NCAA champion)
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1972: UCLA Bruins (30–0, NCAA champion)
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1973: UCLA Bruins (30–0, NCAA champion)
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1976: Indiana Hoosiers (32–0, NCAA champion)
What women’s college basketball teams have gone undefeated?
Nine teams have posted perfect marks since the NCAA Tournament began in 1982. This includes regular season and postseason games.
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1986: Texas Longhorns (34–0)
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1995: UConn Huskies (35–0)
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1998: Tennessee Lady Vols (39–0)
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2002: UConn Huskies (39–0)
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2009: UConn Huskies (39–0)
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2010: UConn Huskies (39–0)
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2012: Baylor Lady Bears (40–0)
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2014: UConn Huskies (40–0)
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2016: UConn Huskies (38–0)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: March Madness: Undefeated South Carolina one win from historic season
