Arlington, Texas - The Final Four can be an overwhelming and nerve-racking experience, especially for first-timers.

Senior Niels Giffey remembers his first trip with UConn in 2011.

"It was pretty emotional," Giffey said. "It was a new experience playing on this huge stage and arena down in Houston."

Of course, the story had a happy ending, with UConn beating Butler to capture the national championship.

The Huskies own an advantage over every other team in the Final Four field this weekend.

They have three players - Giffey, Shabazz Napier and Tyler Olander - with previous Final Four playing experience. They've dealt with the distractions, the pressure-packed atmosphere, as well as the media and fan frenzy.

No one on the Florida, Kentucky and Wisconsin rosters has played even one minute in either a national semifinal or final.

"It's tremendously valuable," coach Kevin Ollie said of his three seniors' experience. "They know what it takes. They know what the feeling is, the journey. I don't think they'll be overwhelmed with the crowd and they'll be helping our young guys understand what it takes and not be distracted, because we're going there for one thing only and that's to win on Saturday and move on to Monday."

Florida, UConn's opponent beginning at 6:09 p.m. Saturday at AT&T Stadium, has a coach in Billy Donovan who's won two national championships (2006, 2007). Ollie was an assistant on Jim Calhoun's staff during the 2011 run.

This is Wisconsin's first trip to the Final Four in 13 seasons under coach Bo Ryan and it plays a young Kentucky team with a Final Four veteran coach in John Calipari.

"This is our first time being to this stage of the tournament," Ryan said. "One of the players actually made a comment as we were driving in, 'So this is the road to the Final Four.'

"So I think our guys are loose enough. They understand it's a two-game tournament."

Napier, Giffey and Olander, who saw a combined 98 minutes of action in the 2011 Final Four, certainly know what it takes to fight off first-time jitters and play well at the highest level of college basketball.

In the 2011 national semifinal win over Kentucky, Napier came off the bench and made two huge late free throws. Olander started both Final Four games while Giffey played a key reserve role, contributing four points and six rebounds in the national championship win.

"You have to stay focused on what you've got to get done on the court," Giffey said. "That's the most important thing. You can't be too impressed with everything that's going on, the gym, the different crowd that's going to be out there, and all the attention that's focused on you."

Giffey added that it's also important to have fun, get proper rest and enjoy your teammates' company.

With that mind, the Huskies mixed in some pleasure with business on Wednesday, visiting Reunion Tower to take in the view of Dallas at night.

On Thursday, they practiced for the first time in the massive 80,000-seat, AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

A Final Four record crowd of approximately 75,000 fans is expected to be on hand for Saturday's semifinals. UConn played before a similar-sized crowd in Reliant Stadium, another football stadium, in 2011.

Napier's advice to his teammates: play their normal game. That's much easier said than done.

"Often during the (2011) tournament, I reminded myself not to play with pressure," Napier said. "I think that was the biggest thing. Some guys played with pressure and it really hurt them. I remember when I was a freshman, I kind of was nervous a few times going into games.

"I didn't want to put a lot of pressure on myself, nor did I want to put pressure on my teammates."

Napier, Olander and Giffey are attempting to become the first players in program history to win two national championships. Kemba Walker and Donnell Beverly both played in the 2009 Final Four and won the title in 2011.

"That's something we want more than anything right now," Olander said. "We've been talking about this ever since the season started. Why not us? Let's do everything in our power to be the ones."

g.keefe@theday.com