At St. Petersburg, Fla. Saturday, Channel 2 / Game 1

CONNECTICUT AT A GLANCE: Before this season, no school had appeared in the tournament as many times--20--without making the Final Four as the Huskies. They got as far as the round of eight three times, then made it to the Final Four this time. They spent 10 weeks as the No. 1 team in the nation, not only the West Regional, before being displaced by Duke.

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OHIO STATE AT A GLANCE: The Buckeyes, the fourth-seeded team in the South Regional, are the only non-No. 1 seed heading to St. Petersburg, Fla., meaning they have already gone farther in the tournament than many expected. But then, they have been doing that most of the season, going not only from 8-22 last season to the Final Four for the first time in 31 years, but to a program with a great future because only one of the top seven players is a senior.

CONNECTICUT

Probable starters

F Kevin Freeman (6-7, 235)

F Richard Hamilton (6-6, 185)

C Jake Voskuhl (6-11, 245)

G Ricky Moore (6-2, 195)

G Khalid El-Amin (5-10, 203)

Key reserves

G Albert Mouring (6-3, 180)

F Edmund Saunders (6-8, 220)

G-F Rashamel Jones (6-5, 205)

C-F Souleymane Wane (6-11, 240)

OHIO STATE

Probable starters

F Jason Singleton (6-5, 190)

F Jon Sanderson (6-7, 220)

C Ken Johnson (6-11, 225)

G Michael Redd (6-6, 205)

G Scoonie Penn (5-10, 185)

Key reserves

F George Reese (6-7, 230)

G Brian Brown (6-3, 190)

G Neshaun Coleman (6-3, 190)

* FORWARDS: Hamilton is listed at forward, but his skills--range, quick release--say shooting guard. At any position, he’s a star. Freeman is the counter on offense, the Huskies’ only consistent interior scoring threat. Singleton shot 63.2%, mainly because he knows his range. But his real strength is as a versatile defender who has been put on everyone from point guards to centers.

* CENTERS: Johnson does not have ideal strength, but the 2.55 blocks a game during the regular season mean he is still an inside presence. His UConn counterpart, Voskuhl, is also defense minded.

* GUARDS: El-Amin is coming off a terrible showing against Gonzaga in the West final, but that doesn’t detract from what should be a great battle at the point with Penn. The advantage for the Buckeyes is also having Redd back there.

* INTANGIBLES: The Huskies have much more tournament experience, but neither team has been this far, so it will be interesting to see which handles the pressure better. Will it be an advantage to the Buckeyes that they have already played two postseason games in a dome, normally a tough setting for shooters? Ohio State had its subregional at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, while UConn went from McNichols Arena in Denver to America West Arena in Phoenix.

* COACHING: The Final Four has been a long time coming for Jim Calhoun of UConn, but that still gets him only second billing in the interesting-story department. Jim O’Brien has taken Ohio State from 8-22 to 27-8 in one season, after first leaving his alma mater, Boston College, over an admissions-policy dispute and then dealing with disciplinary problems in Columbus that resulted in several players being dismissed or chased away.

* THE PICK: Matching up with Hamilton and Freeman is the big concern for Ohio State. If the Buckeyes can at least slow them--Freeman on the boards, Hamilton on the scoreboard--their magical ride will continue to the championship game.