The most random winning streak of all-time

When you think of the all-time great winning streaks in the history of college football, you think of the 47-game winning streak of 1953-57 Oklahoma or the 34-game winning streaks of 2000-2002 Miami and 2003-2005 USC. But how many think of the 35-game winning streak of 1968-1971 Toledo?

Other than '53-'57 Oklahoma, they are the only team in the modern era to put together a win streak that exceeded 34 straight games. What's more it just seemed to come out of nowhere. Going into the '68 season, their cumulative record as a program in the 60s had been a very mediocre 33-52-2. They were 5-4-1 the year prior to the beginning of their run.

From 1968-1971, the Rockets would go 11-0, 12-0, and 12-0 respectively. Each year they would finish #1 in the nation in total defense, outscoring the opposition by a combined 1,152-344. They finished #20 in the final AP poll in '69 and rose to finish in the Top 15 in both 1970 and 1971. And then, just like that, they disappeared from the face of the earth, going 6-5 in 1972 and 3-8 in 1973.

I had never known about this winning streak until I saw a list of the longest winning streaks in college football history during the replay of the 2006 Rose Bowl. And it's just striking to me that the Toledo Rockets of all teams claim the second longest one of the modern era. What's even more striking is how it was sandwiched between such mediocrity. I think that makes it the most random winning streak of all-time.