NCAA Tournament 2015: The Best Head-to-Head Matchups in the Elite 8

Now that the games have gone from sweet to elite, so too have the potential matchups between players.

Like Charles Barkley said during one of the CBS broadcasts, "Stars have to be stars." The Elite Eight is a constellation.

Whether it's how Notre Dame's backcourt matches up with Kentucky's or how Wisconsin's frontcourt tilts with Arizona's, matchups determine outcomes. There's no shortage of exciting potential here.

Who will win the matchup? Players can win the battle yet lose the war, but the victors become us, the viewers. The criteria for this piece are mainly subjective, as in in which matchups seem exciting. Lastly, these games hinge on the battle between some of these matchups so there's an impact felt by these pairings.

Read on to see a sampling of the most exciting matchups of the Elite Eight.

5. Sam Dekker vs. Stanley Johnson

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A Look at Sam Dekker

Sam Dekker enters the Elite Eight on fire, coming off 23 points and 10 rebounds versus North Carolina. Wisconsin assistant coach Greg Gard told Yahoo Sports' Jeff Eisenberg:

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I think it's still in flashes. The sky's the limit for him, but I don't think he's anywhere near where he can be. He has to continue to get stronger, continue to mature and get more consistent as a ball handler and perimeter shooter. He has unlimited potential, but he has a ways to go to fully tap into that.

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Dekker moves around the court like he's on ice skates, but how will he react to Stanley Johnson in his face? Dekker knows how to drive and kick out the rock or slash to the bucket if his defender is crossed up.

A Look at Stanley Johnson

Johnson, a future lottery pick, doesn't have quite the same fluidity about him, but he's still incredibly dangerous, especially on the defensive end.

Bleacher Report's Tyler Conway wrote:

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Right away, Stanley Johnson has a presence. Standing at 6'7" and weighing in at 245 pounds, the Arizona forward looks nothing like your typical 18-year-old kid. He looks almost Ron Artestian in his presence, a child blessed with a grown man's body, able to out-leap you with his legs and out-muscle you with his arms.

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That's an apt description: a player who is pure fury and length.

Put Them Together

Dekker's ability to handle the ball and find his other options like Frank Kaminsky down low or out on the arc earns him the slight edge over Johnson.

Johnson, for all his ability, shot 1-of-12 against Ohio State and 4-of-10 against Xavier. It won't get any easier against No. 1 seed Wisconsin.

4. Jerian Grant vs. Aaron Harrison

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A Look at Jerian Grant

Even when Jerian Grant isn't scoring, he's a factor. His shot was slightly off against Wichita State, so what did he do? He racked up 11 assists.

In three NCAA tournament games, Grant hasn't come off the floor. He has played 40, 45 and 40 minutes in each game.

"We've done some good things, but we really haven't made history, we really haven't left our legacy, left our mark," Grant told The Wichita Eagle. "That is something that [we] really wanted to do. We're not done yet, but I think we've really started to do that."

Grant's scoring output has decreased with each game.

A Look at Aaron Harrison

After shaking off the tournament jitters (0-of-5 from the field against Hampton in the second round), Harrison has been steady in his relatively little court time.

He went 5-of-11 from the field against Cincinnati and 4-of-6 in a rout versus West Virginia.

Harrison is able to split his time in the backcourt with Tyler Ulis, keeping his legs fresh.

Put Them Together

Both players are about the same height, with Harrison just an inch taller than Grant at 6'6". The big difference is the minutes. Grant has played 125 minutes, while Harrison has played just 74.

Grant also led his team through the ACC tournament, beating North Carolina and Duke, and he didn't get much rest in those games either.

Notre Dame is running into a juggernaut here, and this matchup goes to Harrison.

3. Przemek Karnowski vs. Jahlil Okafor

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A Look at Przemek Karnowski

Przemek Karnowski is a 300-pound, 7'1" Polish terror. Aside from being a formidable land mass who can square up to the basket, he can pass.

Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said earlier in March in the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

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Karnowski was huge, but that's the beauty of this team. Depending on what the other guys want to take away, we can usually go to some particular aspect or player and count on them. They were hugging our shooters pretty tight out there on the three-point line and not leaving them, so Przemek's really done that a lot for us this year. I think he's an entity that doesn't really exist out there in college basketball, maybe with the exception of (Duke's Jahlil) Okafor, that's big and can get position and deliver down low. You play him one-on-one, he's going to hit the shot.

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Karnowski was nearly perfect in the Sweet 16 against the UCLA, scoring 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

A Look at Jahlil Okafor

Nothing new can be said about Jahlil Okafor. Few players have such a singular impact on the game as Okafor, especially on the offensive end.

In the tournament opener, the potential No. 1 overall pick shot 9-of-11 from the field. In the third round, he shot 12-of-16. Once he gets the ball on the low block, he's nearly impossible to handle without fouling.

Put Them Together

That's close to 600 pounds and 14 feet of height when these two face off.

CBS Sports basketball analyst Doug Gottlieb said during the television broadcast the best way to combat Okafor is for teams to draw him out using ball screens. It creates open lanes for guards to cut through the key.

Easier said than done. Duke has only lost four times this year.

Karnowski is more of a bruiser and lacks the liquid ease Okafor has. Karnowski has the body to push back, but the head-to-head matchup favors Okafor, as it has all season.

2. Zach Auguste vs. Willie Cauley-Stein

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A Look at Zach Auguste

Zach Auguste, a junior, will need to squeeze every ounce of ability out of his 6'10" frame. He's the tallest guy on his own roster, but he would be only the third-tallest player on Kentucky.

Dan Wolken of USA Today wrote:

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Auguste, who is Notre Dame's only true post player at 6'10", could take on an especially important role in Saturday's Midwest Regional final against Kentucky's jumbo-sized frontcourt. Though the Fighting Irish's strength lies with an elite perimeter attack, it is unlikely they would have even gotten this far—to their first Elite Eight since 1979—had Auguste's suspension lingered.

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Thankfully for the Irish, Auguste's academic suspension is behind him. He's been especially good in his three tournament games off the pick-and-roll. Against Wichita State, he was 6-of-6 from the field while scoring 15 points and adding six rebounds.

A Look at Willie Cauley-Stein

Willie Cauley-Stein, also a junior, has been the leader on this unbeaten team. He has seven blocks so far in three games.

"He's just getting more focused, more in tuned to the game," forward Alex Poythress opined in The Courier-Journal. "I think he recognizes how big an impact he has, how heavily we depend on him, and he doesn't want to let us down."

He's not asked to score much; he hasn't reached double digits since the SEC championship against Arkansas.

Put Them Together

Auguste is entering a tesseract against Kentucky. Not only will he share the paint with Cauley-Stein, but also Karl-Anthony Towns. Auguste will enter the paint and come out the other end in another dimension.

How Auguste will match up down low will have everything to do with how well his guards help him out while keeping Kentucky as off-balance as possible.

In the end, Cauley-Stein will own this matchup.

1. Terry Rozier vs. Travis Trice

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A Look at Terry Rozier

It wasn't Montrezl Harrell who led Louisville in rebounding in its win over NC State in the Sweet 16. It was Terry Rozier, the 6'1" guard, who pulled down a massive 14 boards.

ESPN.com's Dana O'Neil wrote, "Terry Rozier's burst down the court, ending with a Euro step, fake, layup, plus the foul was essentially the game-winner for the Cardinals, even though it came with three minutes left. And really, that's the right finish because Rozier again was the star for the game."

Rozier has averaged 18 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game in the tournament.

A Look at Travis Trice

Travis Trice has been clutch for Michigan State late this season and in the tournament.

Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press wrote of Trice, "Although MSU lost a couple of future pros off last year's team, it now has something it didn't have a year ago: a healthy senior guard on a mission who can score from anywhere."

"We stuck together and we don't ever give up," Trice said during the TBS broadcast.

Trice scored 24 points in the Sweet 16 against Oklahoma, 23 versus No. 2 seeded Virginia and 15 in the second round against Georgia.

Put Them Together

These two guards are playing at a high level, but the edge in this case goes to Trice and Michigan State.

Trice has been solid from the field and free-throw line. He's leading his team, and he has Denzel Valentine to defray some of the backcourt pressure.

Rozier has been a gamer too and, with forwards Harrell and Branden Dawson locking horns in the paint, it'll free up the guards to slash. Trice could be a Most Outstanding Player in the making, a special guard putting his team on his back.