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NEW ORLEANS -- Everyone, it seems, has a spin on this latest
national championship game between Connecticut and Tennessee.
Jessica Moore's is unique. When Connecticut goes for its third straight NCAA title in
women's basketball Tuesday night (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), the last obstacle for the Huskies
is the only school that has won three in a row. "I was comparing it to Miss America,'' said Moore, UConn's
6-foot-3 center. "After she is done reigning, she passes the crown
down to someone else. It's like if we win it (Tuesday) night, then
they will be passing the crown down to us.'' Actually, that crown or torch or whatever you want to call it
already has been passed. With its two straight championships and
three in the past four years, Connecticut clearly has supplanted
Tennessee as the nation's pre-eminent program in the women's game. And Connecticut has a chance to become the first school to win
men's and women's titles in the same season. The men's team won its
second title Monday night, beating Georgia Tech 82-73 in San
Antonio. Tennessee has won six titles, but none since 1998. Even
Tennessee's Shanna Zolman said this is "Geno's era,'' a reference
to UConn's brash, successful coach, Geno Auriemma. That's what gives this rivalry a buzz, no matter how many times
they meet in the finals. This will be the second straight year the
schools have played in the women's championship game and the fourth
such meeting since 1995. Connecticut won the three previous games
and beat the Lady Vols in the semifinals en route to the 2002
championship. Yes, there's a pattern here. And after all the talk this season
about parity and balance in women's basketball, the two giants
again are the last ones standing. "That's just the way it seems to work out, doesn't it?''
Auriemma said. "I feel real good that three out of the four
(championship games), we have beat the team that everybody
associates with the best team, the best program over the last
20-some years. "So it's only fitting that if you want to win, that's who
you've got to beat. And if they want to win, they've got to beat
us.'' The Lady Vols are looking to do just that. They've got some turf
to protect, after all. They like being the only program with three
straight titles, which Tennessee accomplished from 1996 to 1998. "We don't want UConn at all up there in the ranks with us,''
Zolman said. "We would love nothing more than to be able to not
only get a ring ourselves, but also not allow them to get three in
a row. We're going to be working hard for that, I guarantee it.'' Connecticut (30-4) kept its title hopes alive with a 67-58
victory over Minnesota on Sunday night, giving the school two teams
in championship games. The UConn men played Georgia Tech in San
Antonio on Monday night. Tennessee (31-3) beat LSU 52-50, its third straight two-point
victory decided in the final two seconds. But whatever the circumstances when these two teams get
together, the subject of Auriemma's relationship with Tennessee
coach Pat Summitt is bound to surface. That's about all that was
discussed before last year's game, played after Auriemma's crack
that Tennessee was the "Evil Empire.'' "We really don't have a relationship,'' Summitt said. "I don't
have his cell number. We don't talk. We speak before and after the
games. That's it. "But that's the relationship that Geno worked very hard to
create. At one time, I thought we had a pretty good relationship.
So I don't know why it went south, but that's the way it is.'' Summitt finds it all the more puzzling because Connecticut has
dominated her team recently. The Huskies have won five straight
against the Lady Vols and seven of the last eight, including an
81-67 victory in Knoxville this season. "You would think as many times as he has beaten us, he would
feel sorry for me and talk to me,'' Summitt said. Auriemma seemed tired of the whole thing. "That's irrelevant,'' he snapped. "Only thing that exists is
UConn plays Tennessee, five on five in basketball.'' As for those who were looking for something a little different
on this final night, well, they'll have to wait a year. "Everybody wants to see two different teams, but there's that
saying the cream always rises to the top. And these two programs
are that,'' Connecticut's Maria Conlon said. "That's the way it's
been and that's the way it's going to remain until someone else
comes in says they're it.''
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