Indianapolis ? Steffanie Blackmon saw a challenge at Baylor and jumped at it. Kristin Haynie was told she could win championships at Michigan State and believed it.

Each took a chance at a struggling program with the goal of making a difference. Just look where they are now: Tonight, one of them will leave the RCA Dome as part of a national-championship team.

Baylor and Michigan State, each Final Four rookies, have put a fresh face on the title game, getting there after two astonishing comebacks in the semifinals.

No Connecticut, no Tennessee. Just two teams with eager, energetic coaches who arrived in their jobs at the same time — Kim Mulkey-Robertson at Baylor, Joanne P. McCallie with the Spartans — and could be a case study in how a five-year plan can work.

“A lot of brackets are busted, and we just have to go out there and get it done,” Baylor’s Chelsea Whitaker said. “They’re hungry, and they have a nice young coach, and our coach is young. They both just want to start something new at their university.”

They already have.

Five years ago, Baylor was the worst team in the Big 12 Conference, and Michigan State was only slightly better in the Big Ten, a middle-of-the-pack program that was starting to go stale. Thanks to players such as Blackmon and Haynie, their fortunes have turned.

Baylor (32-3) goes into the final night with a 19-game winning streak; Michigan State (33-3) has won 17 in a row. Baylor has the more celebrated players with Blackmon and Sophia Young, who helped the Lady Bears overcome a 15-point deficit to beat LSU in Sunday night’s semifinals.

But no one in the NCAA Tournament has played better as a team than Michigan State, which came from 16 down in the second half Sunday to beat Tennessee, matching the biggest comeback in Final Four history.

“Ever since summer, we have been dreaming big — Final Fours, pursue championships in everything we do,” Michigan State’s Liz Shimek said. “It’s not a surprise to us because we have worked so hard all year and over the course of the years. We know we belong here.”

Mulkey-Robertson took the Baylor job in 2000 after 15 seasons as an assistant at Louisiana Tech, one of the game’s traditional powers. The Lady Bears had gone 7-20 the season before, and Mulkey-Robertson knew she had to get to work quickly.

“They were really working hard,” said Blackmon, a 6-foot-2 senior who was one of Mulkey-Robertson’s first recruits. “They hadn’t even gotten a house yet, and they were out there on the road recruiting players.”

Success came quickly. Baylor made the NCAA Tournament in Mulkey-Robertson’s first two seasons, going 21-9 and 27-6. A 26-9 record and an appearance in the regional semifinals a year ago showed the Lady Bears what was possible this season, and they made it happen, reaffirming for Blackmon that she made the right choice.

“When I signed, that was one of my motivating factors, being a part of something that helped turn the program around,” she said. “I like challenges, and I like to say, ‘I think we can do this and get this thing done.’ I’m proud to be a part of that.”