By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Since the NCAA Tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, this year’s matchup between Gonzaga and North Carolina will be the seventh time two number one seeds will face off for the title.

Sure, that’s not at the rate Hollywood releases Fast and the Furious movies (how else am I supposed know Tyrese and Ludacris are still relevant), but it happens more often than I thought.

Of those six games, the average margin of victory is less than six points, and none have been decided by double digits. I would expect more of the same this year.

At first glance, if you’re just looking at the names on the front of the jersey, it would be very easy to think the Tar Heels are going to win this running away. Historically speaking, comparing North Carolina to Gonzaga is like putting both Metallica and Jethro Tull in the Best Heavy Metal Album category. As I learned from all those years watching Sesame Street as a child: “One of these things just doesn’t belong here. One of these things just isn’t the same.”

It makes complete sense for the casual fan to pick the ‘Heels to win based on their name alone. Those particular fans would just be wrong.

I’m not saying Gonzaga is going to win- I’ll get to who my pick is in just a minute- but you could argue they are the more talented, better overall team.

There are a lot of talking points going into a game like this, concerning individual matchups and coaching decisions, but there are two in particular I’m interested to see play out.

The first is Gonzaga’s transition defense. The Zags finished the season with the number one overall defensive efficiency in the country, but I doubt they’ve seen anything like Carolina’s fast break, especially their secondary break. If the Zags can limit UNC’s transition game and force them to operate in the half court, it will obviously play in Gonzaga’s favor.

Even if they’re able to do that there’s still one more thing they’ll need to do, which brings me to my second topic: rebounding.

North Carolina is the best offensive rebounding team in the country, which is kind of twofold. For one, they are really good at crashing the boards and getting second chance opportunities. And it’s not just their big men; their perimeter players, Pinson in particular, are terrific rebounders.

But, on the flip side, they also tend to have a lot offensive rebounds because they miss an awful lot of shots. I’m pretty sure I remember Roy Williams picking on Kennedy Meeks earlier in the season, saying he was missing so many layups because he was trying to pad his rebounding numbers. I know Roy was kidding, but there was probably a little more truth to that than he meant there to be.

It’ll be great for Gonzaga if they can stop Carolina’s transition game, but if they can’t keep the ‘Heels off the glass, it will be a moot point.

I know those both seem like fairly obvious things to watch out for, and there are a number of other things to keep an eye on, but sometimes the easiest explanation is the one staring you right in the face.

So, when all’s said and done, who do I think will be cutting down the nets in Glendale? As much as I like this Gonzaga team, I’ve got to go with North Carolina.

I mean, there’s no way Jethro Tull won that Grammy over Metallica, right?