One plays zone all the time. The other goes man-to-man from start to finish.
Defense will be the key when top-seeded Syracuse faces fourth-seeded Wisconsin in the East Regional semifinals on Thursday night. It's just going to be which style will prevail.
The final 16 teams always include a number who have gotten there by playing defense. Wisconsin's 52.9 points allowed is the lowest of the teams left in the tournament — and the lowest in Division I this season — while Syracuse's 60.5 is fifth-best.
After Rakeem Christmas scored the first seven points for Syracuse in an easy 80-61 victory against overmatched Bucknell in December, even displaying a smidgeon of aggression with a charge, coach Jim Boeheim had this assessment of his reluctant freshman.
"Rakeem works in practice, but basically he is too nice," Boeheim said. "He needs to get more physical on the basketball court. You can be as nice as you want off the court. He's got to be a warrior down there and right now, he's a nice kid."
Three months later, it's no more Mr. Nice Guy, folks.
This is a different kind of one and done.
Instead of three weeks filled with upsets, small schools and all those other feel-good stories that make March Madness so special, basketball fans only get one this year.
Heading into the second week, the NCAA tournament is now a big boy's game, dominated by a who's who of major college programs.
All but two of the 16 teams in the regional semifinals will be from power conferences. The lone exceptions are Xavier, which is hardly a stranger to this time of year, and Ohio University, a big school with a small, but no longer unknown, basketball program.
Syracuse will have to chase a national championship without starting center Fab Melo, who has been declared ineligible for the NCAA tournament.
The university announced Tuesday that the 7-foot Brazilian, who did not travel with the team to Pittsburgh for the second- and third-round games, won't take part in the tournament due to an eligibility issue. The school did not elaborate.
Syracuse is ready to put an exclamation point on a season that won't soon be forgotten — on and off the court.
The sting of just their second loss of the season fully behind them after two hard practices, the Orange (31-2), the Big East regular-season champions, were a confident bunch on Sunday night after being tabbed the top seed in the East. They will play Big South champion UNC Asheville (24-9) in Pittsburgh on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Sean Kilpatrick keyed Cincinnati's early 3-point barrage and scored 18 points as the Bearcats held on for a 71-68 victory over No. 2 Syracuse on Friday night in the semifinals of the Big East tournament.
The fourth-seeded Bearcats (24-9) will meet the Louisville-Notre Dame winner in Saturday night's championship game at Madison Square Garden.
Dion Waiters had 18 points and James Southerland scored all 10 of his points in the final 8 minutes to lead No. 2 Syracuse to a 58-55 victory over Connecticut on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament, snapping the Huskies' 13-game postseason winning streak.
The top-seeded Orange (31-1) won their 11th straight game overall and advanced to face the winner of the Georgetown-Cincinnati game in the semifinals on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
Syracuse University self-reported possible violations of its internal drug policy more than a year ago and the NCAA is investigating, according to school officials.
Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs for the university, says the inquiry does not involve any current student-athletes.
In a report Monday, Yahoo Sports said a three-month investigation it conducted showed that the Syracuse men's basketball program failed to adhere to the drug policy while playing ineligible players over the past decade.
Scoop Jardine wore a satisfied look on his face. It didn't matter one bit that he failed to score in the final home game of his Syracuse career, not with another victory in the books.
Brandon Triche scored 18 points, Dion Waiters had 13, and second-ranked Syracuse beat No. 19 Louisville 58-49 on Saturday to finish the season unbeaten at home.
Syracuse found another way to win Saturday night, and in the process secured the Big East regular-season championship.
Fab Melo's follow-up dunk with 31 seconds left lifted the second-ranked Orange to a 71-69 win over Connecticut. C.J. Fair blocked a shot by Roscoe Smith just before the buzzer to preserve the victory for Syracuse, which has won nine in a row since its only loss of the season Jan. 21 at Notre Dame.
The way the Syracuse Orange were missing one shot after another, Scoop Jardine considered them fortunate to be ahead at halftime.
And once South Florida rallied to close within a point, Jardine put his head down to make sure the second-ranked Orange wouldn't have to mount another comeback.
C.J. Fair scored 13 points and No. 2 Syracuse scored the final six points of the game to beat the 19th-ranked Cardinals 52-51 on Monday night, snapping a seven-game losing streak against Louisville in a game that reminded Boeheim of the NCAA tournament.
This time, Scoop Jardine was ready when Syracuse was tested by a heated rival.
Jardine hit three 3-pointers and a layup in the closing minutes to break open a tense game, finishing with a season-high 21 points to lift the second-ranked Orange to an 85-67 victory over slumping Connecticut on Saturday.
Who says Syracuse doesn't have a go-to guy?
Kris Joseph scored a career-high 29 points, including the decisive 3-pointer in overtime, and Syracuse beat No. 12 Georgetown 64-61 on Wednesday night to give coach Jim Boeheim his 880th career win.
Kentucky is on top of The Associated Press' college basketball poll for a third straight week.
The Wildcats, who were also No. 1 for two weeks earlier this season, received 63 first-place votes Monday from the 65-member national media panel.
Jim Boeheim talked a lot about his team after Syracuse's latest win. One of his most interesting comments, however, was about the St. John's team that lost 95-70 to the second-ranked Orange on Saturday.
Boeheim, who tied Dean Smith for third place on the victory list with win No. 879, could only shake his head when he spoke of the Red Storm, who have five freshmen and a junior college transfer in their seven-man rotation.
After a difficult 72 hours in which a couple of prospects decided to go elsewhere, Syracuse coach Doug Marrone breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday. In the end, the 22 recruits the Orange inked fit the bill.
"This is the tallest class that we've had," said Marrone, starting his fourth season at his alma mater. "I think this is the first class we really did a good job of addressing the needs for this football team with the defensive line. We're excited."
The recruiting class includes five defensive linemen (three ends and two tackles), four offensive linemen, three defensive backs, two tight ends, two wide receivers, and one each at linebacker, quarterback, running back, fullback, kicker, and one player designated as an athlete.
The first capacity crowd of the season at Cincinnati's home court headed for the exits early. All the fans' energy couldn't produce a signature win.
Kris Joseph scored 17 points Monday night, repeatedly driving past defenders for layups, and No. 3 Syracuse recovered from its first loss of the season by beating Cincinnati 60-53 with an offense that attacked inside and a defense that had its way.
Kentucky, the only team in last week's top four not to lose over the weekend, is back on top of The Associated Press' college basketball poll.
The Wildcats, who were ranked No. 1 for two weeks earlier this season, moved up one place Monday after receiving 61 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel.
Missouri, which got two No. 1 votes, jumped from fifth to second, while Syracuse, which was in first place for the last six weeks, dropped to third after losing at Notre Dame, its first loss this season. The Orange were No. 1 on two ballots.
Syracuse was Fab-less rather than fabulous Saturday night, and now the top-ranked Orange are no longer unbeaten.
With center Fab Melo not making the trip, there was a noticeable hole in the middle of the defense against Notre Dame on Saturday night. But the biggest problem for the Orange in their first loss after a school-record 20 straight victories to open the season was making shots.
"Fab is the key to our defense. He's an anchor. It wasn't that, though. Our offense wasn't going today," Syracuse's Scoop Jardine said following a 67-58 loss to Notre Dame on its loud and wild home floor.
