Can Gamecocks win on UConn turf?

— -- The "big game" of this women's college basketball regular season is here -- No. 1 South Carolina at No. 2 Connecticut -- and you know UConn fans are extremely eager to reclaim the top ranking their Huskies had to start this season.

Many in UConn Nation have been chafing that the Huskies have been ignored to some degree in 2014-15, which is not the same thing as being underestimated.

It isn't that anyone has the slightest doubt that UConn is again an exceptional team. It's just that with the Huskies winning all their snooze-fest American Athletic Conference games by whatever score they want, they haven't gotten all that much attention nationally since league play started.

That will be different Monday night (ESPN2/ WatchESPN, 8 ET), though, as the spotlight shines on Gampel Pavilion, which will be rocking. It's the first game in that building this season that has some air of uncertainty to it for coach Geno Auriemma's team.

The reality is, most of the so-called "challenges" to UConn over the years have come up empty, especially if they require beating the Huskies in either their on-campus home or at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. That's because UConn always seems to be expertly prepared for every foe, and because the Huskies typically take the wind out of their opponents' sails so completely.

In spite of all the Gamecocks have done both last season and this one to be ready for their big national close-up Monday night, it's still hard to stand up to being in UConn's building with all the power the Huskies derive from that place. Even if South Carolina does have some excellent, experienced starters who've been building toward this game their whole careers in a way, such as Tiffany Mitchell and Aleighsa Welch, it is a humongous task to go on UConn's turf.

So what might the Gamecocks -- who are probably perceived as the underdogs despite their No. 1 ranking -- lean on emotionally to get them through any early butterflies and keep the Huskies from getting into that all-too-familiar steamroller mode? Well, Dawn Staley, of course. She is respectful toward Auriemma and the vast amount he has accomplished at UConn. But she is not going to be deferential, and that's as it should be. Auriemma certainly wasn't long ago when he was in the "challenger to the throne" role.

Staley and Auriemma both are the kind of coaches who can instill great confidence in players just with their sheer presence. It's interesting, in fact, to consider the similarities between the two. Start with their Philadelphia backgrounds, of course. And the time they spent at Virginia -- Auriemma as an assistant; Staley as a player -- though they didn't overlap.

There's the way they see things so clearly all the time on court. Their "colorful" use of the full palette of swear words. Their insistence on players learning how vitally important efficiency is. Their commitment to coaching USA Basketball squads, including as head coach (Auriemma) and assistant (Staley) for the senior national team.

Their popularity in their respective communities is off the charts, and they understand the need to play an entertaining brand of hoops to help the continued growth of the game. Both have a handle on both the big picture and minute details.

Neither one can tolerate selfish, sloppy basketball, and there is a certain old-school element to their personalities that demands respect without them seeming like tyrants. Both engender not just loyalty from their players, but a genuine admiration.

Auriemma and Staley have their differences, too, of course. As a player, she was one of the best ever as a collegian and Olympian, so her path to coaching wasn't quite the same as Auriemma's was.

And while Auriemma is the king of quips, Staley tends to keep her humor closer to the vest when it comes to dealing with the media. (But they both know their way around a sarcastic one-liner.)

Even though she has been coaching for 15 seasons, Staley is still in the process of establishing herself in the very upper level of the profession. Auriemma has already proved himself one of the best collegiate coaches of all time in any sport.

You can't rule out the possibility that this much-anticipated game still might be a dud. As mentioned, UConn and Auriemma have burst quite a few bubbles over the years, and that's what they'll aim to do against South Carolina. By the same token, the Gamecocks want to show everyone that they are quite ready for this prime-time test. And that they really do deserve to be No. 1 -- not just because Stanford beat UConn in November, which seems like ages ago.

Regardless of what happens Monday, this matchup has the feel of something that is going to have staying power: UConn vs. South Carolina, Auriemma vs. Staley. And if so, that's a welcome development.