NEW ORLEANS -- While Tennessee and LSU aren't taking their women's basketball rivalry out of SEC territory, they are moving up in terms of stature.

Playing at the New Orleans Arena merely suggests a possible conference tournament date. This is the women's Final Four, which is much bigger.

The Lady Vols and Lady Tigers open a national semifinal doubleheader Sunday at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN). Minnesota and two-time defending national champion Connecticut play in the second game.

The winners play at 8:30 Tuesday night for the national championship.

The Tennessee-LSU series has had its moments. It spans four decades and predates SEC play. The Lady Tigers have the third-most victories (seven) over Tennessee of any league team. LSU won the 1991 conference tournament by beating Tennessee, 80-75, in Albany, Ga.

The competition regained a similar sense of urgency last season. The conference regular-season championship was in play before a packed Pete Maravich Assembly Center crowd (15,217) in Baton Rouge, La., and the Lady Vols prevailed, 68-65. Two weeks later, the Lady Tigers struck back with a 78-62 victory in the SEC tournament championship game in North Little Rock, Ark.

Playing in the NCAA's big room can only mean big things for Tennessee versus LSU. The series' tournament history is confined to Tennessee's 67-65 victory in the 1986 Mideast Regional final in Iowa City, Iowa.

In terms of Final Four history, there's a real difference between the two programs. UT is making its 15th appearance while LSU is making its first. This game doesn't look like a chance postseason meeting. Instead, there's a chance for some real regularity to develop.

"It's going to be huge,'' Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. "We're talking that this may be someone we're going to see at this level.''

LSU sophomore forward Seimone Augustus already looks like she's been here before. She scored 29 points in both of the Lady Tigers' West Regional victories. In two games, she shot 68.4 percent (26-for-38) from the floor.

"Seimone Augustus is playing like she's been around the (college) game for years,'' UT assistant coach Nikki Caldwell said.

The Lady Vols were well acquainted with Augustus before she was around the college game at all. As a national high school player of the year honoree from Capitol High in Baton Rouge, her recruitment lasted until the spring of 2002, when she chose hometown LSU over Tennessee.

Augustus' choice was a huge victory for the Lady Tigers, even if it didn't show up in the record books. Her presence was a crucial precursor to LSU's Final Four arrival.

One way or another, playing in April is all about the players. It's hard to imagine Sunday's game occurring without Augustus and LSU point guard Temeka Johnson or Tennessee's Shyra Ely and Tasha Butts.

It's easy to foresee future encounters of this magnitude when you peruse the rosters for last Wednesday's McDonald's All-American girls' game in Oklahoma City. The schools had a combined total of eight players participating. Five were future Lady Vols and three were LSU signees. One of those players -- center Sylvia Fowles from Miami -- was another player recruited by both schools. She's bound for LSU.

Caldwell said these recruits will impact future recruits.

"People are going to be looking to see how they fare against other kids,'' Caldwell said. "They (recruits) are very aware, more than ever. They talk about who they want to play with and who they don't.''

Another factor in this rivalry is the coaching situation. Summitt and longtime LSU coach Sue Gunter are good friends. Gunter is suffering from acute bronchitis and has been off the bench since Feb. 19. She vows to return next season. In the meantime, associate coach Pokey Chatman is in charge.

The 34-year-old Chatman, who is in her 13th season on the coaching staff, was an All-American as an LSU player. She has devoted half of her life to the program and has been instrumental in the school's recent recruiting success. Chatman is a contemporary of Caldwell, who played against Chatman as a Lady Vol freshman in 1990-91.

"Pokey has done a great job with LSU,'' Caldwell said. "When you look at her loyalty to the program, she was a point guard, she had that coaching mentality as a player.''

Caldwell remembers Chatman as being a feisty, aggressive player. LSU's tournament play reflects those qualities.

Chatman's role changes the dynamic between these teams. So does the teams' presence on this big stage. This is bigger than the SEC now, much bigger.