[UT Vols News]

The rivalry has been the women's basketball version of Red Sox-Yankees and Duke-North Carolina in men's basketball. The annual regular season battle between UConn and Tennessee has been recognized as the premier event in the sport for many years.

UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway confirmed Friday that the teams will no longer meet during the regular season. And Tennessee is to blame.

"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, 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," Hathaway said in a statement.

Neither UConn coach Geno Auriemma nor Tennessee coach Pat Summitt could be reached for comment Friday.

News Times Live Lady Vols refuse to renew rivarly

[Lefty Noob]

Wow, terrible idea. This was a great series and it's a shame to see it come to an end like this.

[UT Vols News]

ESPN billed the first women's basketball meeting of top-ranked Tennessee and second-ranked UConn on Jan. 16, 1995 at Gampel Pavilion as the "Battle of the Best."

"That first game is often referred to as the dawn of a new, more popular era of women's basketball," said Mike Soltys, ESPN's vice president of domestic network communications. "There was more media at Gampel Pavilion that day than there certainly had ever been before or after for any regular-season game."

ESPN sensed something big was on the horizon. And for the past 11 seasons, the annual matchups of the teams and their Hall of Fame coaches, Pat Summitt and Geno Auriemma, have become the closest thing the sport has had to a Super Bowl.

"The series was a known commodity for the casual sports fan who may not have ordinarily been interested in women's basketball," Soltys said. "The games were quality, the personalities of the coaches were strong and they often met at crucial times, particularly in the NCAA Tournament. It became the showcase rivalry in the sport and we were happy to have the majority of them [on ESPN]."

But now ESPN will have to make do without it. The rivalry, voted this spring the greatest in the history of the sport by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, ended Friday when Tennessee declined to sign a contract that would have guaranteed a two-year extension of the series through 2009.

Multiple sources indicated Saturday that the decision to end the series had to do, in part, with Tennessee's frustration over several issues, some relating to the recruiting style the Huskies have used through the years to land top high school standouts, like freshman Maya Moore.

UConn Huskies - Connecticut Sports from The Hartford Courant - UCONN HUSKIES WOMEN

[Lefty Noob]

It definitely is a shame to see the sport's marquee match-up getting flushed down the toilet like this. I hope Tennessee reconsiders.