PHOENIX – Bill Belichick wouldn't crack. Neither would Tom Brady. Or the seldom-used defensive back.

During the week when the subject turned to perfection and going 19-0, New England's coaches and players had answers ready.

"We don't think about it," said Belichick, whose team will look to make history with a victory tonight in Super Bowl XLII against the New York Giants. "It doesn't make a difference what our record is, what the Giants' record is or anybody else's. The winner of this game is the champion. That's what it's all about. That's what we're trying to be – champions of the NFL."

Perfection in the NFL is always sought but never met – at least not since the 1972 Miami Dolphins went undefeated. Teams have come close but never as close as these Patriots, who are looking for their fourth Vince Lombardi trophy in the last seven seasons.

"It's very difficult," said Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin, who won three Super Bowls with the Cowboys in the 1990s. "That's why I've said if they win this game we've got to come up with something above dynasty and call them that. I don't know what that name is, but is has to be something much, much above dynasty."

Perfection has been measured in the NFL by the 17-0 Dolphins since 1972. But a loss to New York and the Patriots' season would be hollow, just as if Miami had lost to Washington in Super Bowl VII.

Coach Don Shula faced extreme pressure having lost his two previous Super Bowl appearances, first with Baltimore when the Jets' Joe Namath made good on his famous guarantee in Super Bowl III, then in Super Bowl VI against the Cowboys.

It was that defeat that spurred on the Dolphins in 1972.

"I told our team, 'We don't ever want to feel that way again,' " Shula said. "Our objective wasn't to get to the Super Bowl, but to get to the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl."

Wins piled up for the Dolphins, but they played only four teams with .500 records or better. Six teams had nine or more losses. The Dolphins entered Super Bowl VII undefeated but as underdogs to Washington.

Led by the No Name Defense, the Dolphins beat the Redskins, 14-7, in the lowest scoring Super Bowl ever.

"People mention we're desperately trying to hold onto something," Dolphins running back Mercury Morris said. "Let me set you straight; there's nothing for us to hold on to, because it's nothing that belongs to us. It only belongs to the history of the National Football League. It's 35 years old. This record is old enough to be president."

The pursuit of perfection isn't limited to the NFL .

The day before the first day of practice for the 1975-76 Indiana basketball team, Bob Knight had a simple message.

"I told them, 'The only way that we could accomplish everything that we're capable of doing was to go undefeated,' " Knight said. "That meant to go 32-0."

Knight said he didn't worry about adding pressure to a team that returned starters Kent Benson, Scott May, Quinn Buckner and Bobby Wilkerson, "because I thought they could do it."

Indiana opened the season No. 1 and beat No. 2 UCLA in its first game. The Hoosiers needed overtime to beat Kentucky and Michigan in the regular season. They had close victories against Purdue, Ohio State and Notre Dame.

"Coach Knight put so much pressure on us in practice," Benson said, "that when it came time for the game, not that they were a piece of cake, but they were easier than practice."

Since Knight's Hoosiers finished undefeated with their national championship game win against Michigan, no team in major college basketball has matched perfection.

Knight, who first got to know Belichick through Belichick's father, Steve, a Navy assistant coach, and later as Bill Parcells' assistant, will be watching today.

"They're dedicated to the team and perfection," Knight said. "And obviously he has them not wanting to be satisfied with a division championship or a playoff win or a [conference] championship."

Michael Irvin forgot the University of Miami went undefeated in 1987, winning a national championship. But then the memories flooded back, none more than the Hurricanes' 26-25 win at Florida State.

More than 50 future NFL players took part in that game, including one who will play today – Giants punter Jeff Feagles.

"We felt going into the game if we could win, this game could be a big difference in the season, and it was," Irvin said.

Miami's Bubba McDowell knocked away what would have been a game-winning two-point conversion after Irvin gave the Hurricanes a 26-19 lead with a 73-yard touchdown catch.

Miami met top-ranked Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl to decide the national championship.

"I remember Jimmy Johnson telling us, 'There's nobody who can beat us. We're the better team. The only way somebody can beat us is if we beat ourselves,' " Feagles said.

The Hurricanes ended their first undefeated season with a 20-14 win over Barry Switzer's Sooners, a loss the coach remembers to this day.

"People ask me about what things mean to my career, and it's always the losses," Switzer said. "It's never the wins. It's the losses that stick out. I go back to [those] six seasons we were 11-1 and think about what could've been. I had two undefeated seasons and came close six other times. That's hard to do. There's odds you're going against."

At 21-0 with the No. 1 team in the country, there are whispers about John Calipari's Memphis team working through the season undefeated. But Calipari, whose 1996 team at the University of Massachusetts started 26-0, is not listening.

"The only time we'll worry about another undefeated season is on April 7," Calipari said. "Winning every game is not what we are trying to do. We're trying to win a national title."

But Calipari is watching the Patriots – and Belichick – from afar with keen interest.

"There are great things that they have done," Calipari said. "Tom Brady said, 'The reason we're better this year is friendship. There's true friendship amongst this team,' which means there's a respect and love that he can feel, that everybody's got each others' back and that they are truly pulling one way. To have that in a team is very, very unusual."