SYRACUSE, N.Y., March 26 -- It's been four months since the ACC put a beating on the Big Ten, winning seven of nine meetings in the annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge and grabbing the unofficial title of "best conference in men's college basketball."
Entering Sunday, just six teams were left in NCAA tournament, and the Big Ten was represented by three of them: Illinois, Michigan State and Wisconsin. The ACC is down to one, North Carolina.
Sharif Chambliss is one of nine Badgers from the state of Wisconsin. North Carolina's five starters, meantime, are all from different states.
(Jessica Rinaldi -- Reuters)
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_____No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 6 Wisconsin | 2:40_____
Region: Syracuse.
Data: A contrast in styles may come down to this: Are the Tar Heels as interested in going to St. Louis as they are in going to the NBA? North Carolina looked discombobulated at times against Villanova on Friday. The Badgers enter as a disgruntled bunch, after hearing how overmatched they are. Wisconsin lost three times to Illinois this season, but that experience means the Badgers aren't afraid of facing talent.
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Even sweeter for Big Ten fans, Michigan State advanced to the Austin Region final by beating Duke; Wisconsin advanced by beating North Carolina State. The sixth-seeded Badgers will have a chance to make history when they face No. 1 seed North Carolina at 2:40 p.m. Sunday in the Syracuse Region final.
If Wisconsin can pull off the upset, the ACC would be left without a Final Four representative for the second time in nine years. Since 1988, the ACC has made 19 Final Four appearances, while the Big Ten is second with 12.
But if ACC fans feel that North Carolina is carrying the conference banner, the Tar Heels' players view things differently.
"Not at all," senior forward Jawad Williams said. "That conference stuff has nothing to do with the NCAA tournament. I could care less about us winning the ACC-Big Ten Challenge because those wins aren't going to do anything to help us win now."
The intriguing thing about the North Carolina-Wisconsin matchup is that the teams truly represent their leagues.
The Tar Heels (30-4) play fast, lead the nation in scoring at 89.1 points per game and have at least four sure-fire NBA players in forwards Sean May and Marvin Williams, and guards Rashad McCants and Raymond Felton.
Wisconsin (25-8) prefers a slow game, averages 66.9 points per game and perhaps only has one potential NBA player in sophomore forward Alando Tucker, who bounced back from a serious foot injury that forced him to take a medical redshirt last season.
North Carolina has produced 24 first-team all-Americans since Wisconsin produced its last in 1950, and the only time the schools have bumped heads during the recruiting process in recent years was when North Carolina tried to land Appleton, Wis., native Brian Butch, a high school all-American who is now a freshman for the Badgers.
If North Carolina is personified by the mercurial McCants, whose up-and-down play has mirrored that of the Tar Heels since he arrived in Chapel Hill as a high school all-American in 2002, Wisconsin is personified by shooting guard Clayton Hanson, a floppy-haired former walk-on from Reedsburg, Wis., who finally earned a scholarship and a starting position this season.
North Carolina has a national recruiting base and its five starters come from five states. Hanson is one of nine Badgers from the state of Wisconsin, Tucker is from nearby Illinois and backup point guard Kammron Taylor is from next-door neighbor Minnesota.
The two head coaches also offer a study in contrasts, and not just because they like to play different styles of basketball. North Carolina's Roy Williams was personable but obviously exhausted during his news conference Saturday, perhaps because he's weighed down with the pressure of being the favorite.
During 15 seasons at Kansas, Williams was 4-1 in region finals, but despite four Final Four appearances and two appearances in the championship game, Williams has yet to win it all. North Carolina last won a national championship in 1993, and in Chapel Hill, national championships are all that matter.
Wisconsin's Bo Ryan, who cut his coaching teeth at Division III University of Wisconsin-Platteville, is in his fourth season in Madison and faces no such pressure. Perhaps that's why Ryan's news conference on Saturday doubled as a comedy routine.
Faced with question after question about North Carolina's prowess and Wisconsin's "boring" style of play, Ryan finally shrugged his shoulders and broke into a smile.
"I have no idea why people say we're boring," Ryan said. "Hey, we're in Syracuse, and we're still playing. It's all right."
Asked if he even bothers recruiting the high school all-Americans that are the staples of North Carolina's roster, Ryan told a story about his youth in Chester, Pa.
"My sister danced on ['American] Bandstand' so she taught me how to dance early, and at every dance from the time I was 11 on, I asked the best-looking, best-dancing female in the gym, at the firehouse, at wherever there was to dance. So do you think it's going to bother me if somebody says no?" Ryan said.
"You dance with a nine. I danced with a lot of fives. Recruiting is like getting people to dance when you were younger. There's an art to that. You've got to be persuasive, got to have a couple of moves. . . . We've gone after some good players and we have some very good players. Guys that are up here are very good players."
