Not a lot of time now -- rushing out to dinner -- but Mel just received an email from Uconn athletic communications confirming some rumors he was hearing. Apparently, the Uconn - Tennessee series is over. Whatever the reasons, I think this is incredibly sad for women's basketball and the individual teams. Much as we fans and players love to hate each other, we do enjoy the rivalry, which is (or was, I guess) in my opinion, the biggest rivalry in women's basketball. I guess we'll have to meet a lot in the NCAA's now...
Press release from Uconn is pasted below.
"A Statement From UConn Director of Athletics Jeff Hathaway Regarding The UConn-Tennessee Women’s Basketball Series
“After sending a contract signed by the University of Connecticut to the University of Tennessee earlier this year for the next two games of our women’s basketball series (2007-08 and 2008-09), we were notified by their athletic administration that the Tennessee women’s basketball program would not be signing this contract and has made the decision to terminate the series between our institutions.
“We are disappointed for UConn fans, Tennessee fans and women’s basketball fans in general who look forward to this annual event featuring the greatest women’s basketball rivalry in the nation, as recently selected by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).
“We are pleased to maintain our outstanding relationship with the Southeastern Conference as we will be playing two of their member institutions during each of the next two seasons. We have finalized a two-game extension with LSU, a 2007 NCAA Final Four participant. In addition, earlier this year we signed a two-year contract with South Carolina.”
Please note that this will be the only comment made by UConn on this matter."
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