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SAN ANTONIO — Villanova and Kansas could be cousins, the unquestioned kings of their respective, and powerful, conferences.
Each coach has climbed a ladder and cut down a net after winning a national championship. Each program expects another.
They share a No. 1 seed and a style. They spread the floor and share the ball like it scorches their hands, shooting 3pointers like they count for five.
They will meet in the Final Four, a championship game masquerading as a semifinal.
“I think the two teams kind of mirror each other,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “I think they really take a lot of pride in being tougher, being harder, making other teams play poorly, that kind of stuff, which is very similar to us.
“I think our core philosophy is pretty similar.” But the powers are split by perception. Entering Saturday’s game at the Alamodome, Kansas is listed as large an underdog against Villanova as No. 11 seed Loyola Chicago is against No. 3 Michigan.
“We are used to it,” Kansas’ Devonte’ Graham said. “It is not the first time we have been the underdog. We were against Duke, regardless of us being the No. 1 seed. Everyone still sees us as the underdog. A lot of people look down on what we have done and don’t really give us the respect we deserve.”
Kansas (31-7) has produced one of the best offenses in the country by mimicking the formula of Villanova, using a four-guard lineup that averages more than 81 points per game and ranks fifth in the nation in 3-pointers.
Villanova (34-4) has built one of the most efficient offenses ever, leading the nation with 86.6 points — it is seven 3pointers away from setting the Division I single-season record — while ranking eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio.
It sets up for a shootout that should be far different than two years ago, when Villanova beat Kansas, 64-59, in a defensive-minded Elite Eight matchup.
But back then, Jalen Brunson was just a freshman, quietly accepting a role be- hind Ryan Arcidiacono, while Graham was still carving out his place alongside Wayne Selden and Frank Mason III.
Now, Brunson and Graham are the two best point guards in the country.
“Their intangibles are even better than their abilities. It will be a chess match with both of them,” Self said. “I hope they’re matched up against each other quite a bit because I think it will be fun for people to see that and certainly fun to coach to it.”
It’s just the latest duel for Brunson, who was named the AP Player of the Year and won the Oscar Robertson Award this week.
In the second round, he faced off with Alabama’s Collin Sexton. The next week, he went against Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Jevon Carter and Texas Tech’s Keenan Evans.
“It deserves the hype,” Graham said. “But we both know it’s Kansas versus Villanova, it’s not Jalen versus Devonte’.”
It’s experience versus experience, strength versus strength, 3s versus 3s.
In the most recent Final Four at the Alamodome, Kansas won its first national championship in 20 years, thanks to Mario Chalmers’ last-second, overtime-forcing 3-pointer in the title game.
In Villanova’s most recent Final Four, Kris Jenkins gave the Wildcats their first national championship in 31 years, with his buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Before that came Kansas. “This group reminds me of our group in ’16,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “I feel like we’re getting better as the season goes on, even at this time of year.”