ST. LOUIS — Connecticut vs. Notre Dame could be the NCAA championship game, two days ahead of schedule. Just don't suggest that to either of the participants in Friday night's Final Four semifinal.
"I think that's disrespectful to the other two teams," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. "If we act like that's the national championship game, then whoever wins Friday will lose on Sunday.
"The championship game is Sunday night, period."
The numbers suggest otherwise. Connecticut is the defending champion, both the Huskies and Notre Dame are 32-2, both advanced as No. 1 seeds and the teams swapped the No. 1 ranking during the season.
The other semifinal, Southwest Missouri State (29-5) vs. Purdue (30-6), is intriguing mostly because of Jackie Stiles. The Southwest Missouri guard, who set the NCAA career scoring record earlier this month, is averaging 30.6 points and had 32 in the West Regional final against Washington.
This is the second trip to the Final Four in three years for Purdue, which won the national title in 1999, but both teams advanced as underdogs. Purdue was a No. 3 seed, and Southwest Missouri, which emerged from the mid-major Missouri Valley Conference, was a No. 5.
"I think people are looking at the seeds and saying here are the two No. 1 seeds playing each other in the semifinal, would it not be great if that was the final?" Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. "But when you get to this part of the season, there's only four teams left and everybody deserves to be here."
Purdue coach Kristy Curry feels that way. All season, there's been a "Meet me in St. Louis" sign in the Purdue locker room.
"As far as the attention and accolades, we are all just laid-back and blue-collar about it," Curry said. "They can focus on whatever they want."
Southwest Missouri State coach Cheryl Burnett bristled a bit when asked about the Missouri Valley's low profile. This is the Lady Bears' second trip to the Final Four and first since 1992.
"When you say a conference like ours, I'm not sure what that means," Burnett said. "We believe our conference has prepared us extremely well."
Connecticut vs. Notre Dame has developed into a rivalry, even though the Huskies were 11-0 in the series before losing 92-76 in South Bend on Jan. 15. The teams faced each other again in the final of the Big East tournament, and now, three weeks later, they're at it again.
"Us and Tennessee used to be Ali-Frazier," Auriemma said. "This is Ali-Foreman."
This is the fifth Final Four for Connecticut, which usually runs into Tennessee at this time of year. The Huskies beat the Lady Vols for last year's championship and in the 1995 title game, and lost to them in the 1996 semifinals.
Notre Dame is happy to be the replacement.
"This is the first year we actually have had a rivalry," McGraw said, "Because I don't know that you can have a rivalry until you beat somebody."
Connecticut advanced despite season-ending injuries to Svetlana Abrosimova and Shea Ralph, both first-team All-Americans last season. Ralph was named the most outstanding player at last year's Final Four.
Without their two biggest stars, Connecticut won its first four tournament games by an average of 37.5 points.
Notre Dame causes problems with a multifaceted offense. All-American center Ruth Riley shoots 63 percent and averages 18 points.