Yahoo Sports 
Four keys that could determine Monday night's title game
INDIANAPOLIS — If the final game of the college basketball season couldn't feature Kentucky taking aim at the sport's first undefeated season in 39 years, the matchup we have instead is one heck of a consolation prize.
On one side is Big Ten champion Wisconsin, which bested Kentucky in the national semifinals to move to within one win of its first championship since 1941. On the other side is fellow No. 1 seed Duke, which has steamrolled less formidable competition to earn a shot at its fifth national title under Mike Krzyzewski.
[DraftKings: Play Fantasy College Basketball – Draft your team today!]
The matchup features college basketball's two premier big men, two of the sport's best coaches and four prospects who will likely be taken high in the first round of June's NBA draft. Here's a look at four factors that could decide the outcome:
1. Who wins the Okafor-Kaminsky matchup?
One was the No. 1 overall player in his recruiting class since he entered high school and received scholarship offers from every major program in the country. The other was a classic late-bloomer who had no offers from Big Ten programs until former Wisconsin assistant Howard Moore persuaded Bo Ryan to give the kid a look.
Jahlil Okafor and Frank Kaminsky could not have taken more different paths to Monday's title game, but the two best players in college basketball this season will face off head-to-head with a national championship at stake.
The key to the matchup will be which player is better able to take advantage of his strengths. Okafor will try to get Kaminsky into foul trouble by backing him down on the low block and using his array of post moves to score. Kaminsky will try to take advantage of Okafor's discomfort defending all the way to the 3-point arc by floating to the perimeter and throwing in a steady dose of pick-and-pop jumpers.
2. Who wins the Dekker-Winslow matchup?
Casual fans who have watched only the NCAA tournament might be surprised to learn that Sam Dekker and Justise Winslow weren't first-team All-Americans this season. They've been maybe the two best players in the postseason so far after serving as complementary weapons to Kaminsky and Okafor for most of the regular season.
Dekker has averaged 20.6 points per game so far in the NCAA tournament by scoring in a variety of different ways. The 6-foot-9 forward is shooting a blistering 15 for 30 from behind the arc, yet he is most effective when he's aggressively attacking the rim off the dribble, on the offensive glass or even via backcuts without the ball in his hands.
Winslow has the strength and athleticism to make Dekker work for his points at one end and to challenge him defensively at the other. While Winslow is 7-for-12 from behind the arc in the NCAA tournament, the 6-foot-6 freshman is at his best when he's in the open floor in transition or when he overpowers defenders off the dribble attacking the rim.
3. Can Wisconsin do a better job on Tyus Jones?
The biggest difference in the first meeting between these two teams back in December wasn't anything that Okafor or Kaminsky did. It was that Wisconsin could not keep Tyus Jones out of the lane when he attacked off the dribble.
Jones had 22 points and four assists in Madison, spearheading a Duke offense that shot an absurd 65.7 percent from the field that night. He was most effective when Wisconsin cut the lead to five with four minutes to go, responding with two driving layups and a third drive that resulted in an easy basket for Amile Jefferson.
It will probably be Bronson Koenig who starts on Jones defensively for Wisconsin, though the Duke point guard will probably also see Josh Gasser and Traevon Jackson for stretches too. Regardless, it will be critical for the Badgers to keep Jones out of the paint, where he makes such good decisions with the ball in his hands.
4. How much does Wisconsin have left?
When folks congratulated Wisconsin players after their upset of Kentucky on Saturday night, some of the Badgers took offense to that. Their goal is to a win a national championship this weekend, and they insist that avenging last year's loss to the Wildcats and ending their bid for a perfect season was merely a stepping stone to Monday's title game.
That's definitely the right mindset even though it's also easier said than done. Bo Ryan likened it to the 1980 U.S. hockey team having to summon the focus to defeat Finland in the gold medal game in Lake Placid after upsetting the Soviet Union in the semifinals in a game now known as the Miracle on Ice.
Whereas Duke enjoyed a favorable path to the title game, Wisconsin survived tense games against surging Oregon and North Carolina in the round of 32 and round of 16 before dispatching two of the best teams in the country in Arizona and Kentucky the past two Saturdays. That could make the Badgers more battle-tested than the Blue Devils. It could also make them more battle-weary.
- - - - - - -
Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
