The UConn Huskies may have decisively defeated the Tennessee Lady Vols when the two teams met on February 1, but that did little to dissuade millions — yes, millions — of fans from tuning in. Fox Sports reported that 1.2 million people watched the two teams go head-to-head, which made the game the most-watched women's college basketball match this season.
The Huskies and Lady Vols were fairly evenly matched throughout the first half of the game, but UConn took over early in the second and never looked back. They walked away with a monster 96-66 win (the largest of the decades-old rivalry between the two schools), and are unlikely to be seriously challenged for the rest of the season.
Though the game was a pretty easy win for UConn, the tremendous interest in seeing the two teams play furthers a narrative that's been bandied about for the last few years: the interest in women's basketball is there, and fans are just as interested in seeing old rivalries revived as they are in seeing new dynasties rise.
It can be tempting to assume that fans are only interested in the shiniest and brightest stories coming out of the game, and that most won't take the time to understand the history between two college basketball stalwarts. Happily, the obvious surge in interest in this specific game (and, perhaps, a curiosity about whether or not the Huskies would manage to hold on to their undefeated streak), clearly motivated fans to pay attention.
Tennessee and UConn's rivalry began in 1995
The two teams met for the first time in January 1995. The Huskies dominated the first two seasons the teams met, and then the Lady Vols took over for the next three years. At the time, Tennessee boasted a trio of players affectionately referred to as "The Meeks" — Tamika Catchings, Chamique Holdsclaw, and Semeka Randall — as well as point guard Michelle Marciniak, who helped the team knock back most their opponents.
But UConn came roaring back with a squad that included Sue Bird, Asjha Jones, Tamika Williams, Diana Taurasi, and Swin Cash, and the Huskies destroyed Tennessee for the next five seasons.
The games were eventually paused in 2007, and things weren't resumed until 2020 when then-coach Kellie Harper, who played for Tennessee's Pat Summitt, reintroduced the rivalry to a new generation of fans. UConn has one five of the six meetings between the two programs since then.