NCAA Tournament Elite 8 Preview - Duke vs Baylor

(3) Baylor vs. (1) Duke

This will be quite the exciting matchup to watch, as these two teams stack up very well against each other.

Both Duke and Baylor have excellent perimeter scorers. Nolan Smith, Jon Scheyer, and Kyle Singler are all excellent offensive players for the Blue Devils. They can shoot, they can penetrate, and they can find assists at any spot on the floor. That said, the combination of Tweety Carter and LaceDarius Dunn may actually be a better backcourt on the Baylor side of the divide.

Both teams also have big, athletic front lines. The Plumlees - Miles and Mason - plus Lance Thomas can go inch for inch when it comes to vertical jumps with Quincy Acy, Ekpe Udoh, and Anthony Jones of the Bears. Josh Lomers and Brian Zoubek - the two towering bigs who will take the floor at Reliant Stadium in Houston - cancel each other out when it comes to big, goofy looking centers.

Duke has been fantastic on the defensive end - frankly, all season long. This isn't the Duke team from the last few years that tries to outscore you and shoot a lot of threes. These Devils are big, they are physical, and they are tough. They showed their flinty edge in a Friday win over Purdue, a gritty, grind-it-out, blue-collar special that prior Duke teams wouldn't have been able to win. This Mike Krzyzewski squad brings a lunch pail to the floor, as the finesse elements of Duke basketball - while still in existence - have coexisted with other styles, temperaments and abilities in 2009-2010.

Baylor, on the other hand, has not been a great defensive team all year. The Bears play a tricky 2-3 zone and block some shots, but they also allow penetration too often and give up a lot of open looks. That said, this team has been much better of late, especially against Saint Mary's, a good offensive team that coach Scott Drew's roster absolutely manhandled. Baylor's biggest issue has been rebounding the ball - player by player at all five spots on the floor - in their own zones. Drew needs to insist on and receive a fierce performance on the defensive backboard in Sunday's late game, the last stop on the Road to the Final Four.

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This game will be won on the glass, one way or the other. Baylor is not a great rebounding team on the defensive end of the floor, as the Bears sometimes struggle to locate a man to block out. However, the kids from Waco, Tex., can really get after it on the offensive glass. Keep an eye on Zoubek for Duke. He has been the Blue Devils' best rebounder over the last two months, and will play a vital role in the outcome of this game.

Baylor will have a partisan crowd in Houston, but Duke brings the experience of Coach K, who is 10-1 all-time in regional finals, the best record of any active coach with at least seven appearances in the Elite Eight. Baylor is very new to this experience - this is the first time that BU has ever won three games in the same NCAA Tournament - and while Duke is viewed in some precincts as a weak No. 1 seed, the Blue Devils know how to play in big games on neutral courts.

Let the best team win.

By: Matt Zemek
ACC-Fans Senior Staff Writer