TEDDY BLAIR: A&M point guard A'Quonesia Franklin said associate head coach Vic Schaefer, who is in charge of the defense, is the staff's tough guy, while head coach Gary Blair is the teddy bear. Blair put this arm around Franklin as she spoke, then kissed her.

"Coach, are you supposed to do that?" the press conference's moderator asked.

"Probably not," Blair said. "I'm sure it's an NCAA violation."

GANT EXPECTED TO PLAY: A&M junior forward Danielle Gant, who missed the second half of the Duke victory with dehydration, is expected to play against Tennessee.

Gant went through Monday's walk-through even though she had stomach problems after breakfast, Blair said.

"If I'm going to be there, she's going to be there," Blair said. "There is no tomorrow, OK? And she will find a way. Our trainer will make sure she's ready to go. If not, I'll be looking for a new trainer."

SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY: Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt coached against Blair for 10 years when Blair was at Arkansas. Summitt did a great imitation of Blair during the press conference.

"Gary is always whining -- they're not a very good team, [or] not sure how he got here," Summitt said. "That's how he was in the conference, you know, he was always, 'I don't know about this team.'

"But, you know you can't believe a word he says in that regard, because he knows he's got a great team, he really does. His team is fun to watch, just the energy level that they play with."

REMEMBER ME?: Tennessee point guard Shannon Bobbitt is from Manhattan, N.Y., but she played junior college basketball at Trinity Valley in Texas. She winked at Blair as he was coming off the court after the Aggies' victory over Duke.

"I'm familiar with all their kids," Blair said. "Most of them didn't answer my recruiting letters or my phone calls, but I'm familiar with them."

STOCKED WITH ALL-AMERICANS: Tennessee has eight former high school McDonald's All-Americans on its roster -- senior center forward Nicky Anosike, junior forward/center Alex Fuller, senior guard Alexis Hornbuckle, sophomore guard Cait McMahan, senior guard/foward/center Candace Parker, freshman foward/center Vicki Baugh, freshman forward/guard Angie Bjorklund and freshman center Kelley Cain. A&M has one former high school All-American -- freshman guard Tyra White, who had a season-ending injury in the opener.

"Our kids play for what's on our jersey at Texas A&M," Blair said. "They don't play for the headlines or who they can be. In years to come, hopefully, they'll remember our names, but right now, we're having the time of our life."

PARKER PLANS: Blair said the Aggies need to keep Parker off the free-throw line and make sure layups don't turn into three-point plays. "We have to try to limit her touches," Blair said. "We're going to have our work cut out for us. A lot of times we might be able to front her and get backside help, and she still might be able to jump over and catch and finish at the same time."

ET CETERA: Tennessee's losses were at Stanford (73-69) on Dec. 22 and at home to LSU (78-62) on Feb. 14. ... The Lady Vols have reached the Sweet 16 27 straight times -- each year the NCAA Tournament has been played. ... The lone meeting between A&M and Tennessee was in Alaska during the 1997-98 season. Tennessee grabbed a 105-81 victory en route to a 39-0 season. ... Blair is 1-11 against Tennessee, with each meeting coming while he was at Arkansas. His lone victory was 77-75 on Dec. 29, 1996 in Fayetteville, Ark. ... Blair once sent an Arkansas hog hat to Summitt's son, Tyler, while the two matched coaching wits in the Southeastern Conference.