The Tennessee-Connecticut smackdown has been going on for eight years now, so many women's basketball fans are schooled well in that history. If you say, "that Semeka-Svet thing,'' they know it was the unintentional tangle between Semeka Randall and Svetlana Abrosimova.

Or the "cheese steak thing,'' they know it was when UConn coach Geno Auriemma made joking reference to restaurants in Philadelphia at the 2000 Final Four -- that Geno's was shiny and new, while Pat's was old and dilapidated. (It was funny, though Tennessee fans didn't think so.)

But this year, the marquee regular-season game isn't UConn-Tennessee, although that one on Jan. 4 -- won by the Huskies in overtime -- was quite good.

The current No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle is Duke vs. UConn, a newer, burgeoning ... (Here we must insert bellows from UConn fans: "Are you gonna call it a rivalry?! Duke hasn't won a title yet! Duke hasn't won a title yet! Duke hasn't won a title yet!'')

The year UConn won its first title ("We've won three! We've won three!'') was 1995, when Duke was making just the program's second NCAA appearance. The Blue Devils lost in quadruple-overtime to Alabama in the second round. And so at the time, Duke was like a traveler in the forest who had just found the right road to get where she wants to go. And UConn was already there.

("We've been in six Final Fours, by the way. Oh, and we won three!'')

But the Blue Devils have motored down that path in the last eight years. They played in the NCAA championship game in 1999 ("Thanks to the Purdue transfers!'') and the next recruiting class ("We didn't want Iciss Tillis!'') was one that helped Duke to a second Final Four appearance and make that final turn on the path to being a program that could regularly go after the best talent. ("And has zero titles.'')

OK, are we having a little fun with UConn fans, here?

Yes, because they love to be hated. And envied. And now they're going against a school that, because of its longtime men's basketball success, is "jealoused'' a lot, too.

Duke's women's program was kind of cute and cuddly for a while, when it was climbing the ladder. When teams such as Tennessee and UConn and Virginia could sort of look at the spunky Blue Devils, pat them on the head and say, "Good try! Keep working!''

Then Duke took over Virginia's mantle in the ACC. Now, the Blue Devils -- at least in their conference -- are practically the equivalent of those 1970s bad guys riding in giant, dark-blue Lincolns on "Barnaby Jones.''

On a national scene, though, UConn and Tennessee are still the bigger heavies, for obvious reasons ("Hey, how many titles has Duke won?'').

So all that may come into play when fans with no particular allegiance to Duke or UConn tune in for the big game Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Who ya rootin' for? Not sure? Well, you don't have to pick a side. Just enjoy the game.

But as a reader service, we've put together a little glossary, if you will, of terms for Duke-UConn.