UConn and Notre Dame

Somebody's got it wrong, because it can't be both ways. According to a recent Sports Illustrated article penned by Lindsay Schnell, if both the Lady Huskies and Lady Irish hoopsters continue to remain undefeated -- which is probable -- they'd meet in the NCAA championship game on April 8.

Yet according to an ESPN bracket yours truly is staring at right now -- they're on a collision course in the SEMI-finals. I'm betting on ESPN. I think the editors at SI missed that minor gaffe. It happens.

Nevertheless, it certainly appears like these two teams are heads and shoulders above the rest of the competition. Barring a rash of injuries or a highly unlikely upset in their next two games -- it's almost a lock one of them will go on to become national champions.

Talk about two juggernauts. Notre Dame is 34-0. Only twice all year long have they won by less than 10 points.

UConn is 36-0. Their smallest margin of victory has been 11 points, and their AVERAGE margin of victory is a steamrolling 35 points.

In other words, eventually, something's gotta give. As outstanding as both these teams are -- there can only be one champion. Somebody's gotta lose. Given their recent history against each other, which team will prevail would seem to be a very good question.

Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw recently lamented (whined) that UConn and head coach Geno Auriemma "couldn't find a date" on their schedule this year to play the Lady Irish. In effect, she was basically calling Geno a "chicken". Bawk, bawk, bawk and cockadoodledoo. On that front, Ms. McGraw has a valid point. Just last year, when both teams were in the same conference, Notre Dame and UConn met three times. Twice in the regular season and once in the conference tournament, with the Lady Irish sweeping the trifecta. Now they're in different conferences, so no such mandatory regular season games are on their schedules.

Yet it should be noted that -- when the NCAA tourney rolled around last year, the Lady Huskies crushed Notre Dame 83-65 in the semi-finals while going on to win yet another championship. Going undefeated through the regular season is all well and good, but getting knocked out when it counts the most (see this year's Wichita State men's team) quickly makes a team a mere footnote in history. When the Big Dance starts, few remember or care what happened in the regular season or conference tourneys. It's put up or shut up time. And last year, when the lights were the brightest and all the pressure was on -- Little Miss Muffet and her crew definitely got shushed and kicked back to their collective tuffets.

But if there's a team capable of knocking off mighty UConn, it's certainly ND. Going back to the history thing mentioned above -- ND has defeated UConn in 7 of their last 9 meetings. Very impressive stuff, but history doesn't really matter. Those were different teams with different personnel. Great players have graduated and moved on, while young phenoms have taken their place. Same schools, same head coaches, different chemistry. And in the NCAA tourney, the only thing that really matters is right now, or at least the next game.

Idle thought: What's up with the venue scheduling in the ladies' tournament? Besides being the #1 ranked powerhouse they are -- UConn got to play their first two games in their home arena? If they ever had a chance in the first place, how colossally unfair is that to the other teams? And moving into the regionals -- guess where fellow powerhouse Notre Dame will play their next two? Yep, right back in their own land of leprechauns. Talk about tilting the playing field. Unbelievable. Couldn't the NCAA committee find neutral sites somewhere to at least give the games the remotest semblance of being fair?

Uh oh. Just saw another ESPN bracket that said the lovely Ms. Schnell of SI was right in the first place. UConn and ND won't clash until the Finals indeed. I wish they'd make up their minds. At least they all agree the Final Four is going to be in Nashville.

Either way, I suspect the Lady Huskies will have to square off against the Lady Irish in Grand Ole Opry country to settle this thing once and for all.

Who will win? No idea, but I think a huge marketing opportunity is being overlooked in the time remaining before the two teams eventually clash on the court.

From outward appearances, Ms. McGraw and Mr. Auriemma don't seem to like each other much. Professional jealousy? Maybe. A personal thing? Who knows?

There's a better way. Cage match. The octagon. In the blue corner, we have Miss Muffet, the Princess of the kingdom of Curds and Whey. In the red corner, we have Geenarino, the Canoli Kid. No biting or eye gouging allowed. Other than that -- do what you gotta do -- and may the best pompous coach win. Are you ready to rumble? Then let's get it on for real. Ding.

Perfect. The actual game between their teams in Nashville will probably be interesting. But which match would you rather see?