Change the site, turn the calendar to a new year and it still comes out the same -- Connecticut and Tennessee are in the women's Final Four, on track for another showdown in the championship game.

Only this time, the nation's two most prominent programs will have a couple of strangers with them when they gather in New Orleans next weekend.

LSU and Minnesota both made it for the first time and head into the national semifinals Sunday night with interesting storylines. The Lady Tigers are playing for their ailing coach, and Minnesota has become a force with the return of Lindsay Whalen from a broken right hand.

"This definitely has not sunk in yet,'' Minnesota coach Pam Borton said.

Connecticut (29-4), seeking its third straight national championship and fourth in five years, plays Minnesota (25-8) in one semifinal, with Southeastern Conference rivals Tennessee (30-3) and LSU (27-7) meeting in the other.

That means -- what else is new? -- Connecticut and Tennessee again could meet for the title. UConn beat the Lady Vols 73-68 for last year's title and defeated them in the 1995 and 2000 championship games, as well as the 2002 semifinals.

Tennessee, the only No. 1 seed to make it, has won a succession of close games this season and did so again in the Midwest Regional. The Lady Vols beat Stanford 62-60 on Tasha Butts' basket with 1.7 seconds left in the regional final Tuesday night.

Butts made two free throws after a disputed foul was called with 0.2 seconds remaining to beat Baylor 71-69 in the semifinals.

"It's unbelievable,'' Butts said. "The whole season, we've been put in situations like this and it always seems like I have the ball in my hands. I'm very confident I can make a play for our team.''

Tennessee is the nation's leader with six national titles and 15 Final Four appearances, but coach Pat Summitt hasn't won it all since 1998.

Minnesota, the No. 7 seed in the Mideast, ended top-seeded Duke's championship dream with an 82-75 victory Tuesday night. The Gophers are the lowest-seeded team to reach the season's last weekend since Arkansas got in as a No. 9 in 1998.

LSU's Sue Gunter had to wait until her 40th year of coaching to earn a Final Four berth, and she hasn't even been around to enjoy the ride. Gunter has a respiratory ailment that limits her to practice and film sessions, and assistant Pokey Chatman has been running the team in games.

With Gunter at home in Baton Rouge, the Lady Tigers made it with a 62-60 victory over Georgia in the West Regional final in Seattle on Monday night.

"We are a part of history,'' LSU star Seimone Augustus said. "We gave Coach Gunter her first Final Four, and one for Pokey Chatman, too.''

Connecticut earned a record fifth straight Final Four trip with a 66-49 victory over top-seeded Penn State in the East Regional final Monday night.

Minnesota, 8-20 three years ago, has been rejuvenated by Whalen's return after the second-team All-American missed the last seven regular-season games. The Gophers ended up beating the top three seeds in their region to reach the Final Four, knocking off No. 2 Kansas State and No. 3 Boston College before the stunner against Duke.

Whalen is averaging 22 points in the tournament.

Connecticut, which has won 16 straight NCAA tournament games, is coming full circle with its trip to New Orleans. The Big Easy is where UConn made its first Final Four appearance in 1991, long before coach Geno Auriemma's program began challenging Tennessee for supremacy in the sport.

This will be the eighth appearance for the Huskies, who after a rocky regular season have hushed any notion that they were vulnerable and not up to UConn's previous championship standards.

In its thrashing of Penn State, UConn put together its fourth straight outstanding performance on defense and shot 60 percent in the second half.

Offensively, Connecticut again is getting strong postseason play from All-American Diana Taurasi, and sophomore Barbara Turner has picked up her game, too. Turner scored 26 points against Penn State, while Taurasi had 27.

"They are very confident in their abilities and feel they can take on the world,'' Auriemma said. "There is no fear. They just play the game.''

Gunter's situation and the school's proximity to New Orleans could make LSU the sentimental favorite. And that's not all the Lady Tigers have going for them.

Augustus, a sophomore, is the leading scorer in the NCAA tournament with a 26.3 average after getting 29 points in the victory over Georgia. She also lit up top-seeded Texas for 29 in the regional semifinals and is shooting 65.6 percent in the tournament.