UConn and Sue Bird take on Oklahoma at 2 p.m. ET Saturday in the Sweet 16.

Connecticut women's basketball coach had lovely things to say about Oklahoma, Saturday's opponent in the East Regional at Richmond, Va. But, hey, it's not like his kids have been hanging around on the beach in Aruba since December.

When he was asked if his team thrived on the enormous expectation surrounding it, Auriemma was momentarily silent.

"Yeah," he said eventually. "The expectation level around our program is tremendously high -- no matter who's playing, no matter who's hurt, no matter who graduated, no matter who we recruited. Look around the country and very few teams have been able to put themselves in the position we have year after year after year.

"That's a credit to the kids we get. They understand that, and they're OK with that. This group here is especially OK with it."

If it's late March, it must be the Sweet 16.

For seven consecutive years, that has been UConn's address in time and space.

"I think we're the kind of program that, right now, expects things like this to happen as a matter of course," says Auriemma, the consensus national coach of the year. "We've set ourselves up for it and we feel it's our obligation to almost be in the regionals every year and to put ourselves in the position to go to the Final Four.

"We don't sit around thinking about how hard it is to do it or how many years in a row we've done that. It's just that this is what we're supposed to do."

The 31-1 Huskies are the No. 1 seed in the East and face No. 5 seed Oklahoma. In fact, they are the NCAA Tournament's top seed overall, and most experts expect them to win the national championship on April 2 in Philadelphia.

As ubiquitous as the UConn women have been in recent years, this is something of a departure. For, believe it or not, there isn't a single player on this team that has been to the Final Four.

The last time UConn got there -- 1996, when the team led by Nykesha Sales, Jennifer Rizzotti and Kara Wolters fell to Tennessee in overtime of the Charlotte semifinals -- junior first-team All-American Shea Ralph was merely a high-profile high school recruit.

I remember the long drive from Charlotte to Ralph's North Carolina home and shooting a few late-night baskets with her. She had been smitten with Auriemma and the Huskies when they won all 35 of their games and their first national championship the season before. This was during UConn's second straight Final Four appearance and, given the animated way Ralph talked about the future, you got the impression she believed she'd be there every year.

So did we all.

Well, the Huskies, after reaching those two Final Fours in 1995 and 1996, have gone 0-for-3. Auriemma thought he had the best team in 1997, but Ralph blew out her knee and UConn lost to Tennessee 91-81 in the Midwest Regional final. In 1998, Sales, memorably, was lost for the season with an Achilles injury and the Huskies fell to North Carolina State 60-52 in the Mideast Regional final. Without a consistent point guard, they lost to Iowa State 64-58 in last year's Mideast Regional semifinal.

When UConn beat Tennessee in the rousing 1995 championship game, the post-dominant Huskies were outmanned in terms of pure pedigree and talent. Both Final Four opponents, Stanford and Tennessee, had high school All-Americans that numbered in double digits. UConn had two: Sales and Rebecca Lobo.

With a national title and packed houses to sell, Auriemma has able to sell subsequent All-Americans on Storrs. This team has eight. And so, the squad that was muscled and, at times, physically intimidated, has grown to be more athletic and confident. UConn is no longer dependent on post play, but thrives on the wings. The defense is lethal and the depth is unprecedented.

Depth, of course, is a twin-edged sword. When you are a high school All-American, you are not accustomed to getting 18 minutes of playing time. And yet that's just what 6-foot-2 sophomore forwards Swin Cash, Tamika Williams and Asjha Jones averaged in the 83-45 second-round win over Clemson. In that brief whiff, the three produced 25 points and 16 rebounds.

	“	It's not easy to go into (the NCAA Tournament) with everything on the line when you know you don't have your best team. It's been a long time since we could go into the tournament feeling like we're capable of handling whatever obstacles are in our way. There's a certain confidence level and comfort level that we have. ”
		— UConn coach Geno Auriemma

UConn plays with a remarkable unselfishness because Auriemma has convinced them that winning a title is worth it.

Ralph leads the team with 14.4 points and 5.0 assists per game and is shooting a ridiculous 63.2 percent. But the best example of a team player is Svetlana Abrosimova, a junior forward from St. Petersburg, Russia. While her points per game (13.2) have decreased, her shooting percentage (49.3) has actually increased. She is the team's leading rebounder (6.2), and because of her terrific peripheral vision, her break-starting passes often lead to layups. By sublimating her game, Abrosimova joined Ralph as a first-team All-American.

The big thing missing last year was a point guard. Sophomore Sue Bird, who missed all but eight games last year after suffering a torn ACL, has run the team smoothly, averaging 10.6 points and 4.4 assists.

The 1999-2000 regular season was defined, as usual, by rival Tennessee. On Jan. 8, UConn won 74-67 in Knoxville as Bird scored 25 points. In the return match at Connecticut, Tennessee prevailed 72-71. That thin margin is all that separates UConn from having a shades-of-1995 undefeated record.

The Huskies' 71-point victory over Hampton in the opening round was the third-largest margin in NCAA Tournament history. In the second round, Clemson made only 10 field goals, the lowest total in tournament history, and was held to 20.4 percent shooting.

When the Huskies traveled to Tennessee for their Jan. 8 game, Auriemma was struck by something. For the first time, he thought to himself, his players were better than Tennessee's.

As the team prepares for the East Regional, UConn's talent level hasn't changed.

"Going into this trip last year," Auriemma says, "I was really worried. This year I'm not as worried.

"The last couple of years we've had some unfortunate things happen to our team happen along the way. It's not easy to go into a tournament with everything on the line when you know you don't have your best team. It's been a long time since we could go into the tournament feeling like we're capable of handling whatever obstacles are in our way. There's a certain confidence level and comfort level that we have."

In three of the last five years, UConn's season has ended with Tennessee. The last two times, the Lady Vols have won. If the brackets hold true to form, UConn would meet Tennessee (30-3) in the championship game.

Not that there aren't potential disasters along the way. Oklahoma knocked off defending champion Purdue to reach the regional semifinal, Duke, the No. 2 seed, played in last year's final after beating Tennessee in the Elite Eight. Louisiana Tech, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest, would be waiting for UConn in Philadelphia. And though the Huskies beat Tech 90-63 back in January, Louisiana has a huge edge in experience with two consecutive appearances in the Final Four.

"It's the goal of our program every year: To put yourself in position to win the national championship," Auriemma says "In order to do that, you've got to be in the Final Four. If we're lucky enough and good enough in the next two games to put ourselves in that position, we'll be happy.

But I don't think anybody's going to do any handstands if we get to the Final Four. Our goal is to win the national championship. This is something they came to Connecticut to do, and they haven't done it.