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In the Hulu series “Brockmire” the Frackers, a derelict minor league team in Morristown, Pa., go on an extended winning streak when the eponymous hero and the female franchise owner start having sex before games. When Hank Azaria and Amanda Peete, the hard-drinking pair, finally quarrel and skip a ribald rendezvous, the Frackers lose 18-0.
Surely, whether they admit it or not, there are superstitious coaches and players who embrace any evidence of success secured via ritual practice, believing they’ve hit upon a winning formula or totem that assures victory.
For instance, when Lefty Driesell and his visiting Maryland squads beat any Triangle team, the coach returned to the same hotel the next time he was in the area, changing venues when his oncourt fortunes soured.
Others have been known to wear lucky sports jackets, shirts, socks, shoes, ties and the like while wins accumulate.
No word on what, if any, good luck charms were summoned to produce the results listed below for the 2020 season.
By the way, none of last year’s streaks set records in ACC play, either for individual programs or for the league overall.
Most wins in a row were 10 by both Florida State and Louisville. FSU’s run ended at Virginia, Louisville’s at Georgia Tech. BC, often subject to extended runs of misery in recent years, had the league’s longest losing streak at six.
As for emulating the Brockmire model in avid pursuit of victory, no one’s talking.
| RECENT RUNS Most Consecutive Wins and Losses By ACC School, 2020 |
||
|---|---|---|
| School | Wins in Row | Losses in Row |
| Florida State | 10 | 1 |
| Louisville | 10 | 2 |
| Duke | 9 | 2 |
| Virginia | 8 | 3 |
| Notre Dame | 6 | 2 |
| Virginia Tech | 6 | 5 |
| Clemson | 5 | 4 |
| Miami | 5 | 3 |
| North Carolina | 5 | 5 |
| NC State | 5 | 3 |
| Pittsburgh | 5 | 4 |
| Syracuse | 5 | 3 |
| Boston College | 4 | 6 |
| Georgia Tech | 4 | 3 |
| Wake Forest | 3 | 3 |