In the four years that Mike Hopkins played for the Syracuse University men's basketball team from 1989 to 1993, the Orange started 10-0, 13-0, 10-0 and 8-0. So Hopkins, now SU's assistant coach, knows a thing or two about long winning streaks at the start of a season.

He knows how difficult it is for 19- and 20-year-old college kids to maintain their focus for every game. He knows how much the other team wants to knock off an undefeated team. And he knows how easily a poor shooting night, an injury, a referee's bad call-or countless other factors-can derail the unbeaten train. And that's why Hopkins, from his front-row seat on the SU bench, has a special appreciation for the Orange's record-setting 20-0 start to this 2011-2012 season.

"Amazing," Hopkins said. "What else can you say? It's just amazing."

No. 1-ranked SU set a school record for consecutive wins to start the season by defeating the University of Pittsburgh 71-63 on Monday, Jan. 16, before 24,826 fans at the Carrier Dome. The previous record of 19 was set by the 1999-2000 team that finished 26-6 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

"I've been a part of history a couple of times here: the 34,000 crowd {against Villanova in 2010}, this right here. It's a great feeling," said SU senior forward Kris Joseph. "All of those things, they'll never be forgotten and that's a great thing."

Monday's win also enabled SU coach Jim Boeheim to tie legendary former Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp for fifth place on the all-time victory list for Division I coaches with 876. With one more win, Boeheim will trail only current Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski (915 and counting) and retired coaches Bob Knight (902) and Dean Smith (879) on the all-time list.

But if Boeheim was excited about the 20-0 start or being tied with Rupp, he didn't let on during his post-game news conference. "No significance. None whatsoever," he said about 20-0.

And Rupp? "None. The only thing I care about is this year, that's it. What we're doing this year," Boeheim said. "When I'm old, next year, I'll think about it."

Perhaps someone should have asked Boeheim about beating Pitt, which has been a thorn in Boeheim's side the last several years. The Panthers were 8-0 against the Orange in the regular season since 2005, including a 74-66 win at Pitt last year that ended SU's 18-0 start to the 2010-2011 season.

Pitt also snapped SU's 13-0 start to the 2009-2010 season, and the Panthers had won five consecutive games at the Carrier Dome. The Panthers are struggling this year, as they fell to 11-8 overall and 0-6 in the Big East Conference after Monday's loss.

"Before the game today we talked about {SU's record against Pitt},"' center Baye Keita said. "It was time for us to end their little winning streak against us."

There's a reason "taking it one game at a time" is the most often-used sports cliché: It works. Hopkins said the SU players have a done a magnificent job of ignoring the hype that goes along with being the No. 1 team in the nation (for six weeks and counting) and focusing on what they have to do to beat their next opponent.

"The good thing is, they don't know {how special it is}," Hopkins noted. "They're just focused on winning games. That's been coach's philosophy, to focus from game to game, and we've been able to do that. You're going to play your best when you do that. It's when people start reading the press clippings and watching the television when you get in trouble."

As of Monday, only two Division I teams remained unbeaten: SU and Murray State (18-0). On Saturday, Jan. 14, after the Orange's 78-55 win over Providence and on the same day that Florida State walloped No. 3 North Carolina, Boeheim said SU's focus is simply on winning the next game.

"That's all we thought about and that's what we are going to keep doing. That's the only way to approach basketball games," Boeheim said. "We have to get ready or we are going to get beat. We just have to get ready every night. Watching games today, a couple of teams were not ready and they got beat. It's as simple as that."

The SU players say that while they're happy to have the record, they're looking at the big picture. After all, the 18-0 start to last season was not much of a consolation prize after SU lost to Marquette in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. "It's a great accomplishment, but we don't want to stop here," sophomore guard Dion Waiters said. "We want to continue to get more wins and stretch it as far as we can and get better."

With road games at Notre Dame and Cincinnati in the next week, and a combined four games remaining against Connecticut and Louisville, the Orangemen know they have a difficult road ahead in the second half of the Big East season. The idea, the players say, is not just to start fast, but to finish even faster.

"Come March, that's when it really matters and that's what we're trying to do: make a special run at the end of the year," guard Scoop Jardine said.

"We're playing well and you want to get better," added guard Brandon Triche, "but ultimately we can't wait for March and April and those games like that."

-Matt Michael