BATON ROUGE ? The top two teams in the Southeastern Conference meet for NCAA Tournament seeding at 5:30 today in a top-10 clash in Knoxville, Tenn., that will be nationally televised by Fox Sports Net from 24,535?seat Thompson-Boling Arena. It's No. 7 LSU (20-3, 9-0 SEC) versus No. 1 and defending national champion Tennessee (22-1, 8-0). "Two Hall of Fame coaches, two potential No. 1 WNBA picks in Candace Parker (Tennessee forward) and Sylvia Fowles (LSU center)," LSU point guard Erica White said. "What else can you say?" But this is not new ground for UT coach Pat Summitt and first-year LSU coach Van Chancellor ? a pair of Basketball Hall of Fame coaches. While Chancellor was Ole Miss' coach from 1978-97 before going onto stardom in the WNBA at Houston and winning four championships, Summitt went head-to-head with Chancellor 21 times. Of those games, 13 were top 15 match-ups and six were top 10 pairings. Summitt leads 14-7, but through the first nine meetings, Chancellor led 5-4, including a 69-63 victory by the No. 8 Lady Rebels over the No. 3 Lady Vols in Knoxville in 1987. That was the year of Summitt's first national championship of seven. That loss was UT's only one at home that season. Chancellor has twice beaten Summitt in Knoxville. LSU has only one win in Knoxville over Tennessee. Chancellor also beat Summitt in the NCAA Tournament when his No. 6 Lady Rebels beat No. 13 Tennessee 63-60 in 1985 in Bowling Green, Ky. Chancellor remembers one victory over Summitt in particular ? 80-78 over the Lady Vols in overtime in Tad Smith Coliseum in Oxford, Miss., in 1992. "We won on a last-second shot with the ball rolling over the rim," he said. As was usually the case, it was an upset. Ole Miss was No. 10 and Tennessee was a second-ranked defending national champion. Chancellor's last win over Tennessee was in 1996, and again he beat Summitt in a UT national championship season. The No. 20 Lady Rebels upset the No. 3 Lady Vols 78-72 in Oxford. That was just one of four losses for the national champions that season. "I don't really know," Chancellor said when asked about other wins over Summitt. "I done forgot. I didn't even know that (that he has seven wins over Summitt)." Chancellor had a memory gain when asked how many times his team had more talent than Summitt's. "Zero. Zero. Zero," he said. Chancellor either has the advantage this time or the talent level is as close as it's ever been. Both teams reached the Final Four last season. Tennessee beat Rutgers, which had beaten LSU, for the national title. "I know if I lose, everyone will say I got out-coached," Chancellor said. "But I don't care about all that individual stuff. I've had enough of that." Chancellor does not automatically concede that he has more talent, though, and some of those old competitive juices for the mighty Orange soon started to flow. "I don't know that you can say we got more talent when they don't sign anything but All-Americans," Chancellor said sharply. "Let me re-state that. This is the way I'm going to say it. I like our players, OK." Asked if the talent was even, Chancellor got evasive. "I'll know after Thursday night," he said. "I've been off 10 years from playing them. Let me play them first before I'd compare that. I really like the way our team is playing." LSU has won 11 in a row. UT has won 12 in a row, including a 59-58 win over No. 5 Rutgers on Monday night. "I've enjoyed having him back in the league," Summitt said. "He brings a great sense of humor. We've been friends a long time. He has done a great job of coaching this LSU team. They seem to believe in what they are doing. When there is a coaching change, there is a transition. They are playing with great passion. It's great to have him back in the league." Chancellor has tried to downplay this game and his rivalry with Summitt, but White knows better. "He hasn't really said too much about it," White said. "Coach Van is a very humble guy. But I'm sure he's driven. I'm sure he wants to win this game bad. You can tell." Link To Original Article
