When Auburn’s Men’s Swimming & Diving Team won the SEC championship two weeks ago, it was the program’s 14th straight conference title — a mark that broke the previous record set by the University of Florida from 1956 to 1968. 

It was also the team’s 16th SEC Championship overall, all of which have occurred in the last 17 years. It’s been a dominant run to say the least. Over that time, the team has also captured eight NCAA National Championships, including six of the last seven.

To put the team’s recent success into perspective, here’s a look some of the NCAA’s other most successful programs and their recent successes:

MEN’S INDOOR TRACK

Since joining the SEC in 1991, the University of Arkansas Men’s Indoor Track team has won 16 out of 18 conference titles, including a streak of seven straight titles from 1997 to 2003. During that time, the Razorbacks also captured 12 Indoor National Championships. (Not to be outdone, the Men’s Cross Country team has won 11 national titles as well.)

WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS

The University of Georgia Women’s Gymnastics team, the Gym Dogs, have won the last five NCAA Team Championships, as well as ten national titles overall.  Since 1986, the Gym Dogs have won 16 SEC titles and are currently ranked No. 5 in the country.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

While best known for its Men’s Basketball team, it’s actually the University of North Carolina’s Women’s Soccer team that’s the school’s most impressive program. Since 1981, the Tar Heels have won an incredible 21 national championships, including nine straight from 1986 to 1994 and three of the last four.

They’ve also dominated the ACC, winning 20 of the conference’s 22 official championships, while producing over 100 All-Americans. 

As if that weren’t enough, in 2003, the now defunct “Sports Illustrated on Campus” magazine featured a cover story with the head line “Why The North Carolina Women’s Soccer Team is the Greatest College Sports Program Ever.”

FOOTBALL

The closest recent parallel in college football is probably the USC Trojans, though they struggled this year and even lost their head coach to the NFL. But from 2002 to 2008, USC won seven PAC 10 titles in a row, plus one BCS championship and an AP national championship. And for the most part, they did it in dominating fashion, mustering 11 win seasons with regularity and garnering three Heisman Trophy winners along the way. 

WATER POLO

From 1973 to 1993, Cal won 13 national championships in Men’s Water Polo, including one streak of six straight and another run of five straight. (Now, how many schools actually had Water Polo teams at that point, I do not know. Or even have them now for that matter.)

BASKETBALL

Reaching back into the history books, one of the most dominant runs ever can be claimed by the UCLA Men’s Basketball team, which won 11 national championships in a row from 1964 to 1975. For those of us who don’t actually remember this, it’s a streak that’s hard to fathom. (And maybe especially so for fans of Auburn basketball.) 

In Women’s Basketball, what Coach Pat Summit has done at the University of Tennessee has been stellar in its own right. In addition to their eight national championships, the Lady Vols have been rock steady in the SEC, winning either the regular season championship and/or SEC tournament championship in 22 of the last 31 years. This year the team won both, defeating the University of Kentucky70-62 in the SEC tournament finals on Sunday.

TENNIS

The Stanford Women’s Tennis Team has been another formidable women’s program over the years, posting 13 national titles from 1986 to 2006, including five in a row in the mid ’80s. Starting in 1988, they also posted 20 consecutive Pac 10 titles, a streak that just ended in 2009. During that time, the Stanford Men’s team posted 10 national titles of its own, plus seven more prior to that.  

SWIMMING

In Men’s Swimming, the biggest whale of all may actually be swimming around out there in the smaller waters of Division III. The men’s team at Kenyon College (Gambier, Ohio) has won a jawdropping 30 national championships in a row. And on top of that, Kenyon’s women’s team has won 23 national championships in the past 28 years.

2010 SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships will be held this month, with the finals scheduled for March 25-27 at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio. Auburn held a qualifying meet on Sunday to give swimmers one last opportunity to improve on their times. The field for the championships is scheduled to be released on Wednesday. Auburn is currently ranked No. 6 in the nation.

War Eagle!

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