I called out to Stanford to check on a rumor that the much-anticipated game against UConn on Dec. 30 is in danger of being cancelled. Word is that if UConn beats Ohio State on Dec. 19 and then takes out Florida State two days later, UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma will take his ball and go home. After all the Huskies will have topped the NCAA basketball record 88-game winning streak held by John Wooden's UCLA men's basketball program since 1974 so what else is there is play for?

Yes, I am joking but considering some of the line of questioning following Thursday's win over Marquette (UConn's 87th in a row) you would think the world would be coming to an end at some point once the final buzzer sounds either on Dec. 19 or 21.

Where the UConn players feeling pressure because of the streak which they quite frankly have barely concerned themselves with? Would the UConn coaches try to protect the players from having to answer questions about the streak? Then the best of all. I won't even try to paraphrase it but give you the exact question posed to Auriemma last night.

You have played so many big games in your career, you have a good sense for this kind of thing, do you think next Sunday's game - the Garden is almost sold out - do you think it will be the biggest, most watched, most anticipated game in UConn history?

A few thoughts. First, the game is on ESPNU so really how many people will really be able to tune in when UConn and Ohio State meet in the Maggie Dixon Classic on Dec. 19? Second, there is no way the game can approach the level of relevancy of UConn's first NCAA tournament game in 1989, win over Clemson in 1991 to punch a ticket to the Final Four for the first time, ground-breaking regular-season win over Tennessee on Jan. 16, 1995 which set the table for the incredible run of success to follow or the national-championship game victories over Tennessee in 1995, 2000, 2003 and 2004, over Oklahoma in 2002, Louisville in 2009 and Stanford earlier this year? It can't and won't.

Perhaps the question meant to be asked was whether the mainstream public would view the game in that context and would the chance at witnessing history bring in viewers who normally don't tune into women's basketball games? But to imply this could be the most important game in UConn women's basketball history is laughable.

I view the streak a little bit like Cal Ripken's consecutive games played record. As he approached Lou Gehrig's seemingly unapproachable record of 2,130 consecutive games played, the buzz was something to behold. Once he passed it, however, it garnered little attention until Ripken's streak came to an end. I believe the same will be true if UConn beats both Ohio State and Florida State. Sure there will be speculation before the Huskies play at Stanford on Dec. 30, at Notre Dame on Jan. 8, at West Virginia on Feb. 8 or home games against Duke (Jan. 31), Oklahoma (Feb. 14) and Notre Dame (Feb. 19) whether this is the day or night when the record streak finally comes to an end. But other than that, it will be just another line in game stories documenting the Huskies' latest victory.

There's no questioning the quest for 88 wins in a row is a big deal. The New York Times had a reporter there last night, Sports Illustrated and Time Magazine have also had their two cents on UConn's record run recently. But if UConn were to lose to Ohio State on Dec. 19, other than losing its No. 1 ranking it has held for a record 48 straight weeks, what else would be lost? Unlike those NCAA tournament games, the Huskies' national-championship hopes would not be dashed nor will their Big East title hopes be impacted in any way. UConn will still go down in the record books as the owners of the longest winning streak in NCAA women's basketball history.

As UConn senior forward Maya Moore has mentioned on more than one occasion that what she likes the most about the streak is the positive attention it brings to the sport. I am expecting that when UConn holds its next open practice on Dec. 17, it will be the most well attended women's basketball media event of the season. I would anticipate a large media contingent at the Ohio State game as well and I would guess that even on an NFL Sunday, highlights of the UConn/Ohio State game will make it onto just about every newscast in America.

However, anybody who knows anything about the way Auriemma goes about his business, games on December 19 do not define his program. If No. 88 or 89 happened to come in the Final Four, I think Auriemma's reaction to the program's history-making achievement might be a little different. Auriemma's obsession is not with winning streaks but championships. If UConn's streak ends at 87 and the Huskies win their third straight national title in April, Auriemma will be a very happy man.

In the meantime, there will be a sense of heightened expectations as we get closer to Dec. 19 and the Huskies go for the magical 88th straight win. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that as far as I am concerned.