I thought it was a typo when I first read it. But, sure enough, University of Chicago's men's basketball team is 0-11.

Most people who don't follow Division III basketball closely wouldn't think twice about it. Must be a bad team having a bad season.

But let me tell you. This Chicago Maroons squad isn't your ordinary 0-11 team.

Over the last decade, Chicago has been a solid and consistent Division III program. Going into this season, Head Coach Mike McGrath had a career record of 152-80 in nine years with the school. He has won four University Athletic Association titles, and has guided the Maroons into the NCAA Tournament's sweet 16 twice, including an elite eight appearance in 2001.

Additionally, in the last two seasons, McGrath's Maroons have been among the shining stars in the Division III national landscape. Chicago has captured the last two UAA titles with a combined 22-6 league record (38-14 overall).

If you are not familiar with Division III basketball, the eight-team UAA has been arguably the nation's toughest conference over the last several seasons. Last year, it produced the national champion (Washington U. in St. Louis), as well as three other top 25 teams in d3hoops.com's final poll (Brandeis, Rochester and Chicago).

Now, well past the dawn of the New Year, Chicago is still searching for its first win after a dismal streak of 11 straight non-conference losses.

But the amazing thing is Chicago isn't that far from having a winning record. Believe it or not, six of its 11 defeats have been by a combined 10 points, including three one-point losses!

This is a Chicago team that has eight returning student-athletes from last year's 18-win squad, including three out of five starters. The Maroons brought back over 70 percent of its scoring from last year's team (52 of 73.6 points per game), most notably leading scorer Matt Corning. The big loss heading into this season was graduating senior Nate Hainje, a d3hoops.com all-American honorable mention last year.

Can you imagine the media attention this story would generate if it was occurring to a similar caliber program on the Division I level? It would lead nightly sports shows every time they stepped onto the court.

Over the last three years as the radio broadcaster for Chicago's fellow-UAA school, Carnegie Mellon, I saw the Maroons in action on several occasions. McGrath's team always played hard and put up a fight, especially at its beautiful home venue, Ratner Athletics Center, where they were nearly unbeatable.

As crazy as it might sound, I wouldn't count Chicago out of the yet-to-begin UAA title chase. I wouldn't be surprised the slightest bit to see Chicago begin playing at a higher level now that its league schedule against familiar UAA foes is set to commence.

Who knows, maybe the Maroons can string together another streak, albeit of the winning variety. Another conference-run like the last two seasons (6-1 at home, 11-3 overall) would most likely give Chicago the UAA's automatic bid to its third consecutive NCAA Tournament.

If Chicago is able to pull off this improbable and remarkable turnaround, it would be one of college sports' stories of the year.

There's a lot of basketball yet to be played, and Chicago still needs to find that first win. It won't be easy this weekend, however, as the Maroons square off against third-ranked and defending national champion Washington U. in its league opener.