Sue Bird stopped just short of declaring what everybody already knew Sunday night.

After Bird guided the Connecticut women’s basketball team to a 39-0 season and its third national title, she praised the Huskies’ efforts in an 82-70 win over Oklahoma.

‘That’s why we’re the greatest,’ she said. ‘Well, not the greatest, but one of the greatest.’

C’mon Sue. Your Huskies walloped opponents by an NCAA record 36.4 points this season. And, in your four-year career, they went 136-9. You’re not just headed to Disney World, you’ve got a one-way ticket into history.

When it comes to dynasties, Connecticut currently sits atop the women’s basketball heap in a virtual deadlock with Tennessee. But how do the Huskies and Lady Volunteers stack up against other recent dynasties like Duke men’s basketball, North Carolina women’s soccer, Maryland women’s lacrosse and, of course, Syracuse men’s lacrosse?

How do you measure something like that anyway? Longevity? Dominance? Championships?

We examined what we deemed the top five collegiate dynasties of the last 10 years – some reigns extended farther back – and tacked on Nos. 6-10 for good measure. Here’s how they stacked up:

No. 1 North Carolina women’s soccerWe give top billing to the Tar Heels for their longevity and sheer dominance. Under the tutelage of 23-year head coach Anson Dorrance, North Carolina has won 16 of the 20 NCAA women’s soccer national titles, more than any women’s Division I sport. The Heels won nine straight championships from 1986 to 1994. They own a 511-23-11 record under Dorrance, the only head coach in the program’s history, and only twice have they lost more than two games in a season. Carolina fell short of its 18th title last season, losing its only game to Santa Clara, 1-0, in the national final. Still, the title of a 1995 documentary profiling the Heels says it perfectly: ‘Dynasty.’

No. 2 Syracuse men’s lacrosseNineteen straight Final Fours. An all-time record of 705-276-15. So, what keeps the Orangemen out of the top spot? They’ve won just seven national titles in 20 trips to the Final Four. Sounds picky, but SU’s success in the Final Four doesn’t match that of UNC women’s soccer over the same span. The Orangemen’s greatest strength is their ability to win under several head coaches. Granted, they’ve had just three coaches in 70-plus seasons, but each man has seen success. Roy Simmons Sr. (1931-70) was 253-130, Roy Simmons Jr. (1971-98) was 290-96 and John Desko (1999-present) is 46-10.’Of course we expect to win,’ SU attackman Mike Powell said before this season. ‘It’s Syracuse lacrosse, that’s what we do. That’s the kind of mentality you have to have as a Syracuse lacrosse player.’

No. 3 Maryland women’s lacrosseIf you look at this week’s national poll, you’ll see the Terrapins at No. 7 with a 6-4 record. But don’t be deceived. Despite losing three of their first four games, the Terps are the best women’s lacrosse program ever. Their seven straight national titles (1995-2001) put them in the same company as John Wooden’s men’s basketball teams at UCLA in the early ’70s. In their seven-year run, the Terps lost only five games, and before Sunday, when they lost their fourth game, they hadn’t dropped more than three games in any of head coach Cindy Timchal’s 12 seasons. Recent struggles – perhaps a result of losing Jen Adams, considered by some the best women’s player ever – lead to Maryland’s rank.

No. 4 Tennessee women’s basketballYes, this year’s UConn team put up one of the best single-season performances ever. Yes, the 2001-02 Huskies could be the best women’s basketball team ever assembled. But, no, they aren’t better over the last decade than Pat Summitt’s Lady Vols. This was a tight race given UConn’s recent success against Tennessee. (The Huskies have won five of the last seven meetings). But we couldn’t look past UT’s six national titles since 1987 and the fact that it’s played in 13 of the 21 women’s Final Fours.

No. 5 Duke men’s basketballGiven the national exposure that Duke hoops gets, some might put it higher on this list.

‘Certainly, Duke is Duke,’ Virginia head coach Pete Gillen once quipped. ‘They’re on TV more than ‘Leave it to Beaver’ re-runs.’

The Blue Devils have thrived in that spotlight. They’ve made nine Final Fours in the last 16 years, including five straight trips to the Final Four from 1988-92. But Duke has only snagged three national titles. That’s why it’s a bit low on our list. Still, it plays the toughest teams in the country every year, and men’s basketball is a sport – unlike smaller sports that some colleges specialize in – that nearly every school pours its money into. Its record (564-168) under head coach Mike Krzyzewski over the past two decades is dominant. That’s why Duke makes the top 5.

‘I think a lot of people respect what we do,’ said Johnny Dawkins, Duke’s associate head coach and a former Blue Devil player. ‘We’re happy to have our names mentioned along with those other programs.’

The rest of the best (Nos. 6 to 10)Iowa wrestling, Florida State football, Connecticut women’s basketball, Arkansas men’s cross-country/track and field, Stanford men’s tennis.

Darryl Slater’s column appears Tuesdays in The Daily Orange. E-mail him at dpslater@syr.edu.

Published on April 1, 2002 at 12:00 pm