March Madness: Goliath Versus Goliath: How The No. 1 Seeds Match Up

We’ve discussed the four national one seeds’ strengths and weaknesses (including Ohio State) for the past week.

Taking shots of Big Dance tequila, we’ve even outlined which lower seeded teams would have a chance for the monumental upset against these top-seeded juggernauts in the early rounds.

*Legal Disclaimer* When your bracket is shot because you’ve got Coppin State knocking off a two seed in the first round and Wofford in the elite eight after an unprecedented inaugural tournament run, don’t blame me. Like you, I was simply caught up in the Madness.

Invariably, the big dogs are going to face the big dogs. It happens every year despite our yearning for Cinderella to shoot her way past an ugly one-seeded stepsister from the Big East.

More often than not, Alonzo Mourning is going to block the game winning three-pointer to ruin Pete Carril’s upset bid. A George Mason final four appearance can be timed with Haley’s Comet.

Grow up Peter Pan. There is no Santa Claus.

The Elite 8 will consist of at least five of the following eight teams. Book it. Knowing that, it just makes sense to analyze how they matchup with one another.

Let’s start with my unofficial top eight seeds in order: Syracuse, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio State, Duke, West Virginia, Villanova, and Butler. After the first six, there seems to be a significant drop off which makes getting one of the top two overall seeds huge. Congratulations Kansas and Syracuse.

Here’ the Scouting Report primers for each of the No. 1 seeds to get you started. After that, we’ll start with ones versus ones. Part two will include the two seeds and their matchups round robin style.

Syracuse

I think Syracuse is probably the best team in the country for a full season. But get them in a one and done tournament setting against the right matchup and their unique style makes them uniquely beatable. Ask Louisville.

Get Syracuse in a favorable matchup against a top 10 team and they can win by 20. Ask Villanova.

Kansas

Kansas is the most balanced team, and in my mind, the least likely to suffer the shocking upset. It’ll take a special team to knock out the Jayhawks or at least a special shooting night.

Kentucky

Kentucky has the highest beta of any top team. They can run the table or they can lose in the second round against an experienced mid-major.

Duke

Duke, on the other hand, should have the most predictable tournament of all the top teams. It simply depends on the matchups in their bracket.

Speaking of which, let’s get to the matchups:

Syracuse versus Kansas . Kansas can, and will, give the Orangmen fits with their frontcourt. Aldrich, Henry, and the Morris twins aren’t going to be out-athleted on the glass, in fact, I think the Jayhawks would be favored in the all important glass battle.

Defensively, KU is good enough to smother Syracuse in a halfcourt game. I like Collins' and Taylor’s quickness against the Orangemen backcourt. Rautins is nice, but I’m not sold on him creating when matched with quicker guards. Triche or Jardine would be a good place for Collins to rest on defense, if Self so chooses.

Winning the battle on the glass and having a superior backcourt guarantees Kansas can dictate tempo. It’s a strategic advantage that Bill Self will not squander. I like the Jayhawks to win if they do indeed face Syracuse in the final four.

Syracuse versus Kentucky. Theoretically, the important battle on the glass should be Kentucky’s to lose. Kentucky has slightly better frontcourt athletes for the most part. In reality, I think Syracuse out-rebounds the Wildcats because they’ll take better shots than their young Wildcat counerparts.

The Orangemen will do a better of probing the Wildcats inside then out, while on the other end, the Syracuse zone should force some poor looks from an inexperienced Kentucky group. This will allow Syracuse to control transition. When the Orangemen control the glass against an impatient team, they are very good at taking away the easy offense that Kentucky thrives off of. I like Syracuse to beat Kentucky.

Kansas versus Kentucky. This would be an epic battle inside and out. I doubt Aldrich can handle Cousins one on one, so I would expect Coach Self to send quick big to big doubles from Morris to help on the low block. Calipari would counter with some high/low stuff as well as some four out one in looks to help pull Morris, and his ability to offer quick help, away from the basket to isolate Cousins inside.

On the perimeter, Kansas has to be careful with the threat of fatigue and foul trouble when it comes to floor general Sherron Collins. Against a backcourt of Wall and Bledsoe, the Jayhawks don’t have the luxury of hiding their floor leader on defense. If I’m Calipari I make it point to attack Collins from the opening tip.

On the other end, I’d be tempted to zone some if I’m Calipari because Kansas kills teams that get out of position away from the ball with their cutting and ball reversal. If the zone can generate some empty possessions the Wildcats have a great shot and Kansas fails to find a solution to Cousins, Kentucky has a good shot.

This one’s a toss up.

Duke versus Syracuse. The Orangemen have the better athletes so they’ll most likely win the glass battle. This would be huge battle to win in this game because Syracuse’s best opportunities on offense against Duke’s stay-in-front style defense may be putbacks on the glass.

Duke’s defensive scheme is perfectly suited to handle a slowish backcourt like Rautins and Triche, so closing out possessions with rebounds is even more important for the Blue Devils. Duke’s chances might hinge on Zoubek’s play for this reason.

On the other end, typically a zone is the ideal defense to run against the Blue Devils, but the Orangmen play a unique style of zone in that they invite penetration and dare you to beat them by finishing over their bigs or hitting midrange jumpers. The Devils may not be able to finish over the Cuse bigs, but they can midrange you to death.

I actually think Duke can win this game if they can maintain contact in the rebounding category.

Duke verssu Kansas. Again, the Devils would struggle to handle this frontcourt on the glass. Henry, Aldrich, and Morris should be able play volleyball against Singler, Zoubek, and Thomas. Tyshawn Taylor and Sherron Collins could find some gaps in the Duke perimeter shell with their quickness, which would further exacerbate Duke’s rebounding problems when the defensive perimeter shell collapses.

On the other end, Duke might have success using their motion game to pick on Sherron Collins by running him through a gauntlet of screens. But the reason to like Kansas on this end of the floor is the fact that, unlike most teams, Kansas has an athletic three that can guard Singler.

Xavier Henry is big enough to matchup with Singler on the block, and quick enough to chase the talented Duke forward around the perimeter. Kansas doesn’t need to be cute on defense to stop the Blue Devils’ talented hybrid wing. I like Kansas in a close one.

Duke versus Kentucky. This is a nightmare matchup for the Blue Devils. Cousins and Patterson versus Zoubek and Thomas is an athletic mismatch of epic proportions. The Devils would have to allocate so much help to control the paint, that Wall and Bledsoe would go nuts on the perimeter.

Faced with such a pronounced frontcourt mismatch, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Coach K junk up his defense if both these teams made the final four.

Offensively, the Blue Devils could have some success on the perimeter screening away from the ball against the Wildcats, but the second UK started funneling everything to the rim, Duke’s inability to finish at the basket would do them in. I like Kentucky here quite a bit.

Two Seed Round Robin is up next, where we’ll analyze West Virginia, Ohio State, Villanova, and Butler against the top dogs.

This article originally appeared on March To March

Follow Kevin Berger on Twitter: @MarchToMarch