When I sat down to begin this article, I had a clear vision of the argument I wanted to support. The Connecticut women’s basketball team has had a streak of 90 consecutive wins. The team has surpassed the previous record of 88 wins held by the legendary John Wooden-led UCLA Bruins men’s team.

The argument that I wanted to back, being of the sexually dominant male side of sports, was that there was no way on God’s polished hardwood that UConn’s streak could be more impressive than UCLA’s.

However, in today’s world it is not enough to simply say that UCLA’s streak is more impressive because men are better athletes than women. I needed a formula.

I decided to look at the argument through three frames: difficulty, emotion and time period. Basically, I wanted to compare the numbers, compare the respective meaning of each streak and compare the streaks with respect to the time period in which they were accomplished.

As for difficulty, both teams handily defeated their opponents. However, was there a difference in the strength of their schedules?

For the UConn women, the only obstacles on their road to 90 wins lied mostly in out of conference play and occasional Big East teams like Georgetown. Also, they were rarely tested in the NCAA tournament, except for last year’s championship against Stanford.

For the UCLA men, the Pac-10 was a weak conference during their streak, except for USC and an up year by Arizona. Out of conference play was where their streak was untouchable, except to Notre Dame, who ended their fortunes. UCLA did have a tougher road to the championship than the UConn women, but it was much easier than any team in men’s basketball has ever encountered.

The emotion of the streak was the one ambiguous, subjective concept that I added to this ‘formula.’ Emotion is the one aspect that can simultaneously fuel a rivalry, rebuild a program and gain public appeal. I decided to take one aspect from both streaks that seized the emotion of the nation as well as basketball and its future.

The UCLA men’s streak intrigued the nation to the world of college basketball. The streak will always be remembered as legendary coach Wooden leading a squad to be not only better basketball players, but also better human beings.

The UConn women’s streak destroyed barriers of gender in sports while setting the standard for excellence to a higher bar. Geno Auriemma, the Susan B. Anthony and John Wooden hybrid of sports, has fought for this team to be considered among the best. Like most coaches, including Wooden, Auriemma demands excellence on and off the court. While women’s athletics will never pass men’s in popularity with the public and media, this streak will forever be remembered, at least until it is broken down the road.

While the two streaks have been comparable thus far, I believe that the last frame of judgment would provide the proof needed to proclaim the UCLA men’s streak more dominant than the UConn women’s. Looking at college basketball in the modern era, men’s and women’s basketball has an apparent difference.

Whereas women’s basketball has a powerhouse of four to five teams that are seemingly the only teams in the chase year after year, men’s basketball appears more level across the playing field. I attributed this fact to the recruitment in both sports and the disparity between athletes in both sports.

For example, take the NCAA tournament from both sides. Double-digit seeds are more frequent in the men’s tournament during the later rounds. Since 2007, seeds of ten or higher have advanced 32 times in the men’s tournament compared to only 17 in the women’s. As for the Final Four, 13 teams have been represented on the men’s side compared to only nine on the women’s side. Also, a greater number of teams have represented the men’s final top 10 over this span.

I credit much of this to the rise and predominance of a select group of women’s basketball teams. Teams such as Connecticut, Tennessee, Stanford, and Duke have ruled the recruitment universe with the occasional Rutgers or Baylor rising for a year or two. These teams consistently acquire the top tier athletes on a yearly basis. Also, the top tier of female athletes has been far greater than the other tiers. The disparity between the tiers of athletes in women’s basketball is much greater than in men’s basketball, or, perhaps, there are more athletes in men’s basketball that reach the ‘Maya Moore’ tier.

However, the present meant nothing when considering the past. Upon further evaluation of the UCLA men’s streak, one component struck me. Looking at the top ten rankings for men’s basketball between 1970-1974 and women’s basketball between 2007-2011, which included a majority of both team’s streaks, there were 24 different teams in the top ten for men’s basketball and 20 different teams in the top ten for women’s.

So, the disparity that is relevant when comparing the two in today’s basketball world is non-existent when comparing it to the past. The UCLA men’s season and tournament consisted largely of the same predominant forces that women’s basketball faces today.

Examination of the three frames has led me to an unexpected conclusion. If one were to compare them as equal, the difficulty was similar, the emotional effect was great, and the disparity was comparable. There is nothing that makes one streak more impressive than the other.

To my fellow bros, I am sorry. I have failed to answer the ultimate ‘gender domination’ call.  With an unbiased, objective, media-disbarring goal, I have finally broken down the mental barrier that our male-dominated sports world has created.

Tyler Rigdon is a sophomore majoring in chemical engineering.