Auriemma-Summitt feud could erupt at Final Four

It's possible the Tennessee and Connecticut women's basketball teams could meet in the NCAA championship game next week.

Yawn.

Just kidding.

But in all honesty, the game itself might not be nearly as captivating as what could precede it.

Fans of women's college basketball might finally get the answer to one of their most burning questions of the season.

Why was the highly popular regular season series between Tennessee and Connecticut, the two titans of the sport, suddenly canceled this season after 12 straight years?

Why was one of the best things to have ever happened to women's basketball -- a series so captivating that it brought the sport into the mainstream, even if just temporarily -- abandoned without explanation?

In June, Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma reportedly signed a contract to renew the series and sent it along to Tennessee. Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt refused to sign it.

Whoa.

Since then, mum's been the word on both sides. And the tension has continued to escalate.

"The day before a UConn-Tennessee national-championship game may be one of the greatest days in the history of sports journalism," said John Altavilla, a reporter for The Hartford Courant who has covered the Connecticut women for four seasons. "Geno has promised to address (the cancellation of the series) at the Final Four if they get there."

Watch out. If the gloves come off, it might get bloody.

This is about more than the series.

As intense as this rivalry gets on the court between the players, it's even more fierce on the sidelines between Auriemma and Summitt. That issue was highlighted by a piece that ran on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" last week.

Both Auriemma and Summitt declined to be interviewed on camera for the story, but ESPN quoted Auriemma as saying, "If it has anything to do with her (Summitt), I want nothing to do with it."

Ouch.

This is getting beyond ugly. But then again, the relationship between these two iconic coaches has always had an edge to it. A razor-sharp edge.

For starters, their personalities aren't compatible whatsoever.

Summitt is politically correct and conservative and respectful. Auriemma is, well, usually not any of that.

"You couldn't find two different people," Altavilla said. "That's at the root of a lot of this. Geno is a Philadelphia wise guy. He's like a stand-up comic in a lot of ways.

"I think Geno gets under Pat's skin. He's not afraid to sort of poke at her. At first, it was extremely playful, and he does that to everyone -- other coaches, his players, us (reporters). Everyone is well within the reach of his sarcasm. I think Pat just got to the point where she got tired of it. And that contributed to the demise of their relationship.

"Think of someone in your office who's at the same level as you are. If that person came in every day wearing a clown's nose, sooner or later it might get on your nerves."

What also apparently got on Summitt's nerves was the perception that Connecticut had been using questionable recruiting tactics to nab the best high school player in the country last year.

In fact, the folks at Tennessee allegedly got wind of the fact that Maya Moore, now a freshman sensation at Connecticut and a candidate for national player of the year awards, got a tour of ESPN when she was a junior in high school, and that the tour was arranged by Connecticut.

Stories of former Connecticut stars giving Moore rides in their cars -- an NCAA violation -- also started circulating.

Tennessee alerted the Southeastern Conference, which filed a report with the NCAA.

The ESPN incident was ruled a secondary violation, and the other rumors were disproved.

Not that that convinces Tennessee Nation much.

Lady Vols message boards on the Knoxville News Sentinel Web site scorch with venom for Connecticut.

"At the front end of this thing (between Auriemma and Summitt), I thought it had more to do with their personalities," said Dan Fleser, who has covered the Tennessee women for the Knoxville News Sentinel since 1988. "But I don't think Pat's feelings about Geno have changed that drastically in one year. As this plays out, the less I think personalities are at the root of all of this and the more I believe that this thing revolves around recruiting.

"I don't know how much of it is the ESPN thing (with Moore), but I have a hard time believing that that one event is at the root of all of this."

Maybe Geno will enlighten us all at the Final Four in Tampa, Fla.

Maybe Pat will throw in her two cents.

Maybe that could be the start of a truce.

Or maybe not.

When I asked Fleser if he thought the series between Tennessee and Connecticut would ever be rekindled, he answered immediately.

"I don't think so," he said soberly and very matter-of-factly.

Ever?

"No," he said.

What does that mean for women's college basketball?

Yawn.

And this time, I'm not kidding.