How the rivalry was born
By Mechelle Voepel
Special to ESPN.com
PHILADELPHIA -- Sunday night will be the fourth time Tennessee and Connecticut have met in the NCAA Tournament. Is that all? Really?
|  | | UConn's Rebecca Lobo was part of the first Huskies-Vols matchup on Jan. 16, 1995. |
See, it probably seems like more because every time they play, the game has a tournament-like feel to it. Every time, it's been on national television. Every time, big groups of national reporters show up -- something that doesn't happen for other regular-season women's games.
As you might expect, the teams are 5-5 in their series, including a 1-1 split this season. And to think this all started that Monday afternoon five years ago in Storrs, Conn., a game after which UConn got its first No. 1 ranking -- the Associated Press actually delayed that week's voting for a day to accommodate the result -- and Geno Auriemma said his players would never forget what a wonderful day it was.
UConn won that one 77-66, and then they met Tennessee again later that season in Minneapolis in the championship game.
The Beatlemania-type atmosphere around UConn was kind of a new deal in women's basketball, and reporters couldn't get enough of talking about which group of weirdos was picking Rebecca Lobo's shorn hair off the floor of a salon or which group was on a vigil outside the locker room in case Jen Rizzotti wanted to toss them a sweaty towel.
A lot of East Coast media types got involved with women's hoops for the first time, which contributed to the mindset by some, uh, Northeast folks that the sport itself actually began in 1995. The "hoard" -- the name other media gave to the gang of reporters from Connecticut -- was born, and Auriemma had the mixed blessing of dozens of people hanging on his every word.
They hate that "hoard" nickname by the way. Hee-hee-hee.
Think back to that 1995 NCAA championship game in Minneapolis. Lobo and Kara Wolters were in foul trouble in the first half, and it was Jamelle Elliott (who's now a UConn assistant coach) who held her own against Tennessee's inside pounders, such as Dana Johnson.
Lobo was the most outstanding player of that Final Four, but the signature play was Rizzotti's cross-over dribble as she lost Michelle Marciniak on a driving layup late in the game.
UConn won 70-64, and afterward Tennessee coach Pat Summitt seemed more choked up than her players did. You got the feeling that she really thought her team would pull this one out, that it was a shock to her that they didn't.
Of course, back then, Tennessee had only three measly little NCAA championships, so you can see why Summitt was so upset.
Then a year later in Charlotte, N.C., the tables were turned. Right down to Marciniak losing Rizzotti on a drive to the basket late in the game as Tennessee beat UConn 88-83 in overtime in the national semifinals.
After that game Auriemma told his players that as upset as they were about Elliott and Rizzotti ending their careers, they should remember that Marciniak and Latina Davis hadn't won a national title and were deserving of that. And indeed, at the expense of Georgia, Tennessee got that fourth national title in Charlotte.
The next year, Tennessee and UConn met again, this time in the regional finals, and Tennessee won 91-81. Tennessee had 10 losses going into that game, UConn had none. But UConn had lost then-freshman Shea Ralph, who had torn her ACL in the NCAA Tournament opener.
In 1998, Tennessee had its highest-glory season, going 39-0 -- including a 84-69 victory over UConn in early January -- and winning the national championship. UConn had a painful season. It lost Nykesha Sales to injury and then had to put up with one of the most moronic media overreactions in recent memory in regard to Sales' set-up basket against Villanova.
In 1999, the "star" freshman class belonged to UConn, but point guard Sue Bird's injury was something the team could never quite overcome. When Tennessee came into Storrs and won 92-81, Ralph said afterward that it wasn't going to happen again in the national championship game.
And, of course, it didn't, because neither team made the Final Four. And, yes, that was nice for everybody but UConn and Tennessee and their fans. It was nice to have a break from hearing Rocky Top, especially.
But this season, there's really not been much question that UConn and Tennessee would end up here again in the final. UConn won the first game between the two this season 74-67.
The second game, which came during "Rivalry Week" on ESPN, was one of the most exciting contests of the season, with Tennessee winning 72-71 to give UConn its only loss so far.
How does Sunday's championship game compare to the 1995 meeting in Minneapolis? One thing that stands out most is that seniors won't decide this game. Or, at least, they're not expected to. Neither team starts a senior. Each team started two -- Nikki McCray and Johnson for Tennessee; Lobo and Pam Webber for UConn -- in 1995.
But more than that, the expectation has changed. We thought that Tennessee-UConn game at the Target Center was going to be great, but we weren't sure. After all, then it was only the teams' second meeting.
This year? We feel pretty certain what we're going to get. And it will be good enough to even put up with Rocky Top for another 18 times.
Mechelle Voepel of the Kansas City Star is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. She can be reached via e-mail at mvoepel@kcstar.com. |
Familiar faces meet again as UConn and Tennessee play for the championship.