KNOXVILLE - Three days after the most recent meeting of the two most historically prestigious women's basketball programs in the country, Connecticut and Tennessee, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled "the multimedia entertainment device that's equal parts phone, MP3 player, internet browser and overpriced status symbol." Its name?
The iPhone.
Three weeks after that, Prince delivered an iconic performance at halftime of the Super Bowl with a rendition of "Purple Rain" - in the rain.
Yeah, it's been a while since Jan. 6, 2007.
So if the allure of a clash between the programs that rank 1-2 in all-time women's college basketball victories (Tennessee's Lady Volunteers are first with 1,363 at an 80% winning rate; UConn's Huskies are second with 1,153 at 79%) and national championships (with 11, UConn has three more than Tennessee) does not seem as strong, blame the long layoff.
The rivalry was once fierce, with Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt the established champion and Geno Auriemma the challenger to her throne. From 1995 to 2010, a span of 16 seasons, their teams won the national championship 12 times.
But by the end of that stretch, the series UConn leads 13-9 had not been played for three years and showed no signs of returning due to what Auriemma called a "recruiting violation" regarding Maya Moore, who chose UConn over Tennessee.
The rivalry will be renewed at 7 p.m. Thursday when the No. 23 Lady Vols (15-3) take on the No. 3 Huskies (16-1) in Hartford, Connecticut, with ESPN televising the matchup. The series moves to Knoxville next season, and a portion of proceeds of both games will go to the Pat Summitt Foundation that honors the late Lady Vols coach, who died in 2016, by supporting awareness and research regarding Alzheimer's.
Will the rivalry be the same? Probably not.
While UConn has maintained its place as a top-five program in the country, winning six national championship since Tennessee's most recent one in 2008, the Lady Vols have had their struggles, including a program-worst six-game losing streak last season that led to the firing of Holly Warlick. She was replaced by another former Tennessee point guard, Kellie Harper, who went 4-1 against the Huskies as a player from 1996 to '99.
"Fans got into this game. There was an intensity about the game," Harper said this week. "There was high-quality basketball being played, so even people who didn't have a dog in the fight were interested in the game because it was fun to watch.
"For us as players, it was fun to play in those games. These were some of our biggest crowds. I think we all enjoyed it. We enjoyed the competition."
Auriemma doesn't think the game will have the same emotion because it doesn't have the same stakes.
"We turned that spigot off; let's turn it back on. It won't be the same," he told reporters recently. "The coaching is different, the players are different, the media cycles are different. I don't think it should be (the same). If we're back to that, then you know what, we haven't made the progress we think we've made. What's a bigger game this year, us and Oregon or us and Tennessee? Tennessee for the nostalgia stuff, Oregon for the real stuff."
The Huskies have won four straight games since losing 78-54 to reigning national champion Baylor on Jan. 9. Tennessee has also won four straight, with the most recent win 65-63 on Monday night at home against Alabama, which is just 1-4 in the Southeastern Conference this season.
So, no, UConn and Tennessee meeting in women's basketball doesn't feel the same. The stakes aren't nearly as high, but what a win would do for the Lady Vols is solidify that they may be closer to being back in regards to league and national prominence than previously expected.
If true, that could mean higher-stakes games against the likes of UConn are in store - deep in the NCAA tournament with championships on the line again.
"We have to play our game like we've been doing. It's just another basketball game," Tennessee junior Rennia Davis said. "This game is hyped up because of the fans and TV, but at the end of the day we have to play Lady Vol basketball."
It makes sense. The current players don't know any different.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.