Yogi Ferrell vs. Tyler Ulis Is the Best Point Guard Matchup You Might Ever See This Early In The Tournament

Yogi Ferrell and his Indiana Hoosiers will face Tyler Ulis and his Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Forget the Indiana/Kentucky rivalry and the history of those two storied programs, the Ferrell/Ulis matchup alone is a reason every basketball fan should be glued to the television for that contest. This is an absolute dream point guard matchup, and we’re getting it in the second weekend of the tournament.

Ulis is virtually everyone’s First-team All-American point guard, and he has certainly earned that distinction this season. What makes his matchup with Ferrell special is that Indiana’s point guard is likely to earn an All-American label too. The crack research team at The Big Lead can’t find any instance of two All-American point guards meeting up before the Elite Eight in the last 20 years (plenty have met in the Final Four).

In 1993, Jason Kidd and California played Bobby Hurley’s Blue Devils in the second round, but Kidd was not recognized as an All-American until the following season. In 1990, Georgia Tech with Kenny Anderson played LSU with Chris Jackson (Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf now) in the second round, then Anderson faced off with Steve Smith and Michigan State in the Sweet 16. Jackson was a first team All-American that year, Smith and Anderson were third-team selections. That’s probably the closest we’ve come to this current matchup.

Ulis led a young Kentucky team to a 27-8 record and SEC regular season and conference titles, while earning SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors. And just for fun he was also the MVP of the SEC Tournament. The Michigan native is averaging 17.0 points, 7.1 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game entering Saturday’s contest. So yeah, I’d say it was a good year for the 20-year-old sophomore.

Meanwhile, Ferrell was fantastic as well as he led Indiana to one of the most stunning turnarounds in program history. The Hoosiers started 5-3 and looked dead in the water. Thanks in large part to Ferrell’s leadership, Indiana turned things around, marched to a 15-3 record in the Big Ten and won an outright conference title for the second time in his career. Along the way he set career program records for assists (625), starts (135) and games played (135). While leading Indiana to a 26-7 record, Ferrell has averaged 17.1 points, 5.7 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game. He earned his second consecutive First-team All-Big Ten nod while also being named to the conference’s All-Defensive team.

I’m not stepping out of line when I say these are two of the three best point guards in the country (Denzel Valentine would be the other). What’s great about both Ulis and Ferrell is that they get it done on both ends of the floor. They are excellent defenders and have been recognized as such by their respective leagues.

Ulis and Ferrell have even more in common: both guys are far shorter than ideal for their positions. Ulis is listed at 5-foot-9 and Ferrell is generously listed at 6-feet. I stood next to Ferrell at this year’s Maui Invitational, I’ve always been told that I’m 6-foot-3, but if he’s 6-feet tall I’m clearly entering Gheorge Muresan territory.

Despite immense natural talent and basketball IQ, Ulis is considered a late first-round pick in the NBA draft because of the limitations his lack of size presents. Meanwhile, Ferrell – who is clearly one of the best players in college basketball this year – is ranked No. 99 on Chad Ford’s list of top 100 NBA prospects. If they were five inches taller both guys would be lottery picks.

Saturday afternoon college basketball fans get the chance to see two gigantic rivals play for the first time since 2012. Two blue-blood programs with loads of NBA talent are going to square off in Des Moines for a shot at the Sweet 16. We’re also going to get what looks like one of the best point guard matchups we have seen in the NCAA Tournament in years. Tune in folks, it should be a special game.