By Pat Harty

The much-anticipated rematch is set.

No. 1 seed Iowa vs. No. 3 seed Louisiana State.

Last year’s NCAA runner-up in Iowa vs. last year’s NCAA champion in LSU.

Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder vs. LSU head coach Kim Mulkey.

The Big Ten vs. the Southeastern Conference.

And to the winner on Monday comes a berth in the NCAA Final Four in Cleveland.

Iowa moved into this position by crushing No. 5 seed Colorado 89-68 in the Sweet 16 on Saturday in Albany, New York.

All-America senior guard Caitlin Clark was sensational as usual, finishing with 29 points, 15 assists, six rebounds and just two turnovers. The 15 assists are the most for Clark in an NCAA Tournament game.

LSU advanced to the Elite Eight by defeating UCLA 78-69 on Saturday.

The Tigers have many of the same players back from last season’s team, including All-America center Angel Reese, but also have added star guard Haley Van Lith, who transferred from Louisville.

LSU defeated Iowa 102-85 in the NCAA championship game last season.

“They’re really good at every single position,” Clark said of LSU on the ABC post-game interview. “We know all about that, obviously, we played them last year.

“But we’re going to have to find a way to rebound. They rebound the ball really well. But I’m going to enjoy this one and then turn the page and look at our scout tonight and get ready for that.”

Iowa led Colorado 48-35 at halftime of Saturday’s game as Clark had 15 points and eight assists in the first two quarters.

She also had zero turnovers in the first half and just two for the game.

Iowa then led by double figures for the entire second half.

Clark left the game with less than two minutes to play to a rousing ovation.

This was the same Colorado team that defeated LSU 92-78 in the 2023-24 season opener. The Tigers struggled early in the season but are now peaking at the right time, as is Iowa.