Russ Rose has said it's not on his mind, and the players
don't seem to be worried about it either.
But history will be on the agenda Friday night when the No. 1 Penn State women's volleyball team welcomes Minnesota to Rec Hall.
A win would be the Nittany Lions 88th consecutive and tie the mark set by the UCLA men's basketball team from 1971-74. While not an overall NCAA record -- Miami men's tennis team won 137 straight matches -- the 88-win plateau reached by the Bruins is the most well-known winning streak in collegiate athletics.
Bill Walton played center for UCLA during the entire win streak. He said that while he played, the streak was never in the back of his or his teammate's mind, and it seems the Lions have taken the same approach.
Walton said, though, that it's important that the Lions never lose focus.
"A real key for the Nittany Lions is that they continue to attack," Walton said. "Coach [John] Wooden would always tell us to never look at the score and play each possession, win each possession and over the course of time you build up and accumulate advantages and that's how you win the game."
Walton is no stranger to winning. Along with the 88-game win streak and two National Championships he won at UCLA, Walton also ended his high school career with 49 consecutive wins and after leaving UCLA, he won two NBA Championships.
However, Walton said out of all the accomplishments he has accumulated over his career in basketball, the things he remembers the most are the times that he lost.
It is inevitable that Penn State's winning streak will come to an end, but Walton said the most important thing for the Lions to do is not beat themselves.
UCLA lost its streak to Notre Dame on Jan. 19, 1974, a game in which the Bruins were up by 11 points with two minutes to go, but allowed the Fighting Irish to come back and win by one point.
Walton said the toughest part of losing the streak was the fact that he felt the Bruins beat themselves.
"When you beat yourself, when you don't prepare properly, when you're not executing the fundamentals properly because of things that are under your control, that's the worst kind of defeat you'll ever suffer and you'll never get over it."
Regardless of what happens with the Lions during this historic run, Walton said the team should be gracious for what they have accomplished already and what they have yet to accomplish.
"It's a very select group of people who are privileged enough to play and participate in NCAA athletics," Walton said. "When somebody does something extraordinary, you're really happy for them because that's the kind of stuff that will stay with you forever."
Rose knows that his team has a long way to go. He knows it is too early in the season to be worrying about records.
There will be a time, but it's not coming anytime soon.
"I don't know our record," Rose said. "I don't look at that. I know we haven't lost in a while and that's good and if we lose, I'll be disappointed because I remember the last time we lost. It's a nice position to be in, but I'm not celebrating because it's October."
