The Most Revered Streaks in Sports

By winning its third consecutive national volleyball title on Dec. 20, 2009, Penn State made its case to be remembered as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, volleyball teams in NCAA history. The championship victory over Texas extended the Nittany Lions' record winning streak to 102 straight games, the second longest streak in Division I team sports, behind only the Miami men's tennis program's 137 straight victories from 1957 to '64. Here are some of the other most revered streaks in sports.

Brett Favre's 284 consecutive NFL starts, dating to Sept. 27, 1992.

Byron Nelson's 11 consecutive PGA Tour wins in 1947.

Lance Armstrong's seven consecutive Tour de France victories, the final one in 2005.

Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak in 1941.

Cal Ripken's 2,632 consecutive games-played, stretching from May 30, 1982 to Sept. 20, 1998.

Wayne Gretzky's 51 consecutive games of scoring at least one point, beginning on opening night of the 1983-84 season.

Jerry Rice's 274 straight games with at least one catch, from Dec. 9, 1985 to Sept. 19, 2004.

The Philadelphia Flyers 35-game unbeaten streak during the 1979-80 season, during which Philly went 25-0-10.

The Lakers' 33 consecutive wins in from Nov. 5, 1971 to Jan. 9, 1972.

UCLA's 88-game winning streak under coach John Wooden, stretching from Jan. 30, 1971 to Jan. 14, 1974.

The Miami Dolphins' perfect 17-game season in 1972.

The Oklahoma Sooners' 47 consecutive wins from Oct. 10, 1953 to Nov. 16, 1957, the longest such streak in Division I-A history.

The Boston Celtics' eight consecutive NBA championships, beginning in 1959.

Edwin Moses' 122 consecutive wins in the 400-meter hurdles from 1977 to 1987.

The U.S.'s 132-year domination of the America's Cup, which ended in 1983.

Connecticut's 70 consecutive wins between 2001 and 2003, the longest in women's Division I history.

Orel Hershiser's 59 consecutive scoreless regular season innings, from Aug. 30, 1988 to April 5, 1989.

The Montreal Canadiens five straight Stanley Cup titles in from 1956 to 1960.

UCLA's seven consecutive NCAA basketball titles, from 1966 to 1973.

Defensive end Jim Marshall's 282 consecutive games, the most by a defensive player and second to only Brett Favre in NFL history.

The Yankees five straight World Series titles, from 1949 to 1953. Billy Martin (pictured) drove in the decisive ninth-inning run in the '53 Series clincher against the Dodgers.

Wilt Chamberlain's seven consecutive NBA games of scoring 50 or more points during the 1961-62 season.

Johnny Unitas' 47 consecutive games throwing at least one touchdown pass, from 1956 to 1960.

The Atlanta Braves' 14 consecutive division titles, beginning in 1991.

Brazil's and West Germany's three consecutive World Cup finals teams. Brazil won in 1994 and 2002, but lost to France in 1998. Ronaldo (pictured) was on all three squads. West Germany lost in the 1982 and 1986 finals, but beat Argentina in 1990 with Jurgen Klinsmann (pictured).

Cael Sanderson's 159 consecutive wins during an undefeated college career at Iowa State from 1999 to 2002. Also worthy of mention is Dan Gable, who won 99 in a row for Iowa State's varsity before losing the final match of his college career.

Rocky Marciano's 49 consecutive wins from 1947 to 1956, during his unbeaten pro career.

The converted starter set a major league record of 84 consecutive converted save chances between August 2002 and July 2004.

The three-time Olympic gold medalist wrestler went undefeated in international competition for 13 years (1987-2000), not even giving up a point during the last six years of the streak.

In winning four consecutive Stanley Cups and appearing in the Finals the following year, the New York Islanders won 19 straight playoff series from 1980 to 1984.

Tom Brady and the Patriots went 16-0 during the '07 regular season and helped New England set the longest winning streak in NFL history -- 21 consecutive games from 2003 to 2004.

A five-time World Middleweight champion, Sugar Ray Robinson won 91 consecutive fights from Feb. 19, 1943, through July 1, 1951.