The NCAA women's basketball tournament opens Saturday, but a certain assumption is attached to it this year. Top-ranked Connecticut is supposed to steamroll through the field just as it has rolled through its past 72 opponents.

The Huskies (33-0) have won 72 games in a row -- all of them by 10 points or more -- and have rarely been challenged during that span.

They are attempting to become the first Division I women's team to win back-to-back national championships without losing a game, but as head coach Geno Auriemma explains it, their quest for perfection isn't about winning games -- it is about being perfect in everything they attempt to do.

"I don't look at things beyond the current possession," Auriemma said. "I get asked a lot about winning streaks and national championship runs and things of that nature, and I really don't think much beyond the next possession. I want us to play perfect for one possession, then do it again, then do it again.

"That's how we stay focused and grounded. It is why we will be winning a game by 25 points and I am over there losing my mind because we turned the ball over or didn't get a good shot or didn't defend well."

The Huskies, the No. 1 seed in the Dayton Region, are certainly talented and have star power, but Auriemma also has built a team that looks invincible because he has recruited a certain kind of player -- one who fits the mold he is looking for, one who understands that team comes before self and one who understands the importance of playing defense for 40 minutes every night.

Auriemma said those kinds of players are becoming tougher to find but he will continue to search for them because it is the only way his program will work.

"It is easy to find kids who want to be good or even really good," Auriemma said. "But I'm interested in finding kids who want to be great and who are committed to doing what it takes to be great on both sides of the ball."

Connecticut star forward Maya Moore added, "If you come here, you better understand that you will be expected to work harder than you ever have been asked to work and you will be pushed every day to improve.

"It is not for everyone, it is not easy."

Although the NCAA tournament is being billed by some as the "Huskies Invitational," a few teams in the field actually have enough talent to upset them.

One of those teams -- Ohio State, No. 2 seed in the Dayton Region -- will begin its quest at the Petersen Events Center, but because the Buckeyes lack depth, they likely would need a little help from the Huskies to defeat them.

Stanford (No. 1 seed, Sacramento Region), the last team to beat the Huskies, has excellent size and a great inside-outside game. Tennessee (No. 1, Memphis Region) is athletic and defends extremely well, and Notre Dame (No. 2, Kansas City Region) is the only team during the Huskies' winning streak to lose to them by 10 points.

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