MERIDEN, Conn. -- A pair of nuns from Meriden hopes to bring some luck to the University of Connecticut men's basketball team as they face off Saturday night against Michigan in the final four.

Mother Shaun Vergauwen and Sister Mary Richards, of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, are so close with Coach Jim Calhoun, he invited them personally to be at the big game. They said that if they weren't hosting a cardinal from the Vatican, they'd be courtside.

"They're a great team," Richards said. "They know how to work together. They can do it."

The two nuns said they've seen them do it before. In 2004, they said, they were invited to the final four by Calhoun himself.

"We have followed him, and he has followed us," Vergauwen said. "It's mostly a very good, personal relationship."

The pair said they met Calhoun more than 20 years ago at a fundraiser for the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist. Since then, they said, players have visited their home in Meriden, and they have gone to Storrs.

But the women declined their latest invite to host the cardinal from the Vatican.

"Instead, we'll be at home storming heaven, hoping UConn succeeds," Richards said.

"We'll have services in the a.m., and then the game is at night, then hopefully we'll be watching Monday," Vergauwen said.

But some will have to separate when watching the game. Vergauwen and Richards said some at the center are Michigan fans.

"It's a very big problem," Vergauwen said. "We're going to be in two separate houses."

Though some are surprised by the nuns' devotion to UConn basketball, the women said that, to them, it makes sense.

"I think we've grown to love it, for all that Jim has done for us as a community, and this is one way we can repay him," Richards said.