College basketball

Auburn wins short-season men's college traveler

March 3, 2020 Auburn snatched the short version of the men's college basketball traveling championship early from Georgia Southern and mounted 12 defenses to claim honors for the season. But Kentucky holds the prize as we come to the end of the season.

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The College Basketball Championships

For a guide to the championships in college basketball being followed on LA Big Leagues, click here.

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Virginia leads men's hoop long corn, but UCLA has speed	UConn down, definitely not out for women's long traveler
March 3, 2020 Winning the NCAA Championship in men's basketball means taking the long lineal title to the next season. Thus, Virginia sprinted out to seven games of title defense in 2019-20 and still has the lead. But UCLA has the title now, three games down with the regular season still not done.	March 3, 2020 Even since its dominant run with the women's college basketball traveling championship has ended, Connecticut remains a strong player for the title. But the results this year have not shown it.

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Men's basketball long lineal seldom sits still in 2020-21 July 2, 2021
Oddly enough, the long version of the men's college basketball traveling championship spent the conference portion of 2020-21 in the Big East, yet Villanova never played for it. Thus, the Wildcats didn't extend their all-time leading win total of 27. The best team of the year in this chase was Connecticut.

Gonzaga takes and maintains men's short lineal in 2020-21 July 2, 2021
Gonzaga won the short version of the men's college basketball traveling championship and kept it, becoming the all-time leader in one fell swoop and still holding it entering the 2021-22 season.

Long women's basketball traveler finally travels in 2020-21 July 2, 2021
Stanford finished 2020-21 with the long version of the women's college basketball traveling championship, which actually did travel, for once. The championship, confined to the eastern United States for five years, finally appeared in the Midwest and on the West Coast.

 
Static short women's lineal finally moves in 2020-21 July 2, 2021
The short version of the women's college basketball lineal championship has been, by far, the most stagnant of any on these pages. In 2020-21, we finally saw a little bit of movement. What's next?

Finally, something to discuss in women's basketball short corn June 30, 2021
We've followed the short version of the women's basketball traveling championship silently because, simply, it wasn't traveling. After 97 games, someone finally beat Connecticut. Now, five years into tracking, three teams have won it.

New champ in women's hoop lineal, but UConn still leads June 30, 2021
We can look at the all-time long lineal in women's college basketball two ways: either with or without Connecticut's 73-game streak as the original caretaker. Either way, UConn is still on top after 2019-20.

 
Auburn roars toward the top in men's basketball short lineal June 30, 2021
Auburn added one more game to it's season-leading performance in the short traveler through men's college basketball, finishing 2019-20 with 14 games. The Tigers now are second place all-time behind UCLA, which has 17.

2019-20 men's college hoop season ends without ending June 30, 2021
We didn't get a resolution to the 2019-20 men's college basketball season due to the coronavirus. The long version of the traveling championship ended with USC beating UCLA and Villanova still leading the all-time standings.

Auburn wins short-season men's college traveler March 3, 2020
Auburn snatched the short version of the men's college basketball traveling championship early from Georgia Southern and mounted 12 defenses to claim honors for the season. But Kentucky holds the prize as we come to the end of the season.

Virginia leads men's hoop long corn, but UCLA has speed March 3, 2020
Winning the NCAA Championship in men's basketball means taking the long lineal title to the next season. Thus, Virginia sprinted out to seven games of title defense in 2019-20 and still has the lead. But UCLA has the title now, three games down with the regular season still not done.

UConn down, definitely not out for women's long traveler March 3, 2020
Even since its dominant run with the women's college basketball traveling championship has ended, Connecticut remains a strong player for the title. But the results this year have not shown it.

Virginia holds men's long title, but Villanova still leads November 20, 2019
A very few teams dominate the long version of the men's college basketball traveling championship through four years. But that can change. Just, maybe, not quickly.

Michigan State climbs toward men's all-time long lead August 7, 2019
The full-season traveling championship in men's college basketball spent most of 2018-19 in the Big Ten, enabling Michigan State to challenge for the all-time lead.

Men's short traveler takes tour of Sun Belt August 7, 2019
The regular-season men's college basketball traveling championship took a trip to the Sun Belt Conference in 2018-19.

Baylor ends 2018-19 with 28 wins in long women's traveling title August 7, 2019
The Baylor women's basketball team finished the 2018-19 season with 28 straight wins in the long-season traveling championship.

UConn finally loses in women's short traveling championship August 7, 2019
The University of Connecticut women's basketball team didn't quite make it to 100 straight games with the short version of the national traveling championship. Baylor saw to that in 2018-19.

Michigan State rallies to all-time contention in men's hoop prize March 25, 2019
Michigan State took the men's full season traveling men's college basketball championship to the Big Ten season and totaled 20 wins, pulling into the same neighborhood historically as Villanova and North Carolina.

UCLA still leads short men's cage traveling title through 2017-18 March 25, 2019
Xavier had the best year of any team in the 2017-18 men's college basketball short traveling championship, ringing up 10 wins. But UCLA still has the most all-time with 17.

Notre Dame tops UConn in titles, Huskies lead in wins March 25, 2019
After its stunning run to open the women's college basketball traveling championship, the Connecticut Huskies won one outright in 2017-18, then defended it 29 times. But Notre Dame ended the year with the title.

UConn still untoppled in women's short cage chase March 25, 2019
Three years into starting the women's college short version of the traveling national championship, Connecticut has yet to lose. The Huskies have run their winning streak to 86 games through 2017-18.

South Carolina captures women's basketball corn April 6, 2017
South Carolina led steadily throughout Sunday, winning the women's national basketball traveling championship and giving Head Coach Dawn Staley another huge achievement.

North Carolina rebounds for men's long title April 5, 2017
The North Carolina Tar Heels took the national college men's traveling championship to the final game a year ago, and lost it. This year, they came to the final game empty handed and left it with the title.

UConn finally falls after 73 traveler defenses April 1, 2017
The University of Connecticut ended its long stewardship of the national traveling championship of women's college basketball, losing to Mississippi State Friday night in the national semifinals. The Bulldogs become the first team to win this championship.

UCLA leads men's college basketball short corn March 29, 2017
The traveling championship in college basketball that only covers the regular season, which we may call the "short" Ear of Corn, now belongs to UCLA, and for the third time. As the 2016-17 season ended, UCLA also had more wins in this championship than anyone else.

Jittery men's traveler changes four times in four games March 29, 2017
The NCAA Tournament has seen the long version of the men's college basketball traveling championship change owners four times in four games. It's the most frequent changing of championships in a short history.

UConn unstoppable, as always, in women's college basketball
Nowhere in America during the last four years is any other college women's basketball team even close to the University of Connecticut. The Huskies are so good that they raise a question here and there. (This piece originally was published on EarofCornAwards.com on April 8, 2016.)

Buzzer beater carries Villanova to Ear of Corn
In addition to stomping through the regular season Ear of Corn in men's college basketball, the North Carolina Tar Heels also made a good run through the postseason. In all, they are 17-3 playing for this Ear that also includes the postseason. But Villanova holds the crown today. (This piece originally was published on EarofCornAwards.com on April 7, 2016.)

Carolina all year, Virginia Tech in the end
Virginia Tech made huge strides in the Atlantic Coast Conference this year and now holds the Ear of Corn in men's college basketball entering the 2016-17 season. But no team had a 2015-2016 with the prize like North Carolina. (This piece originally was published on EarofCornAwards.com on April 7, 2016.)

A note about the Ear of Corn in college basketball
We introduce the Ears of Corn in college basketball by introducing two separate versions, postseason and regular season, for the men's and women's championships. (This piece originally was published on EarofCornAwards.com on April 6, 2016.)