#92: Unrivaled 1-on-1 Tournament: Top matchups, best draw, predicted winner, more

As the kids say: we are so back.

The Unrivaled 1-on-1 Tournament returns this week after a successful inaugural effort last year.

Fans were able to vote last week for the seeding of the athletes in each pod, with the full bracket being revealed on Saturday.

That bracket is kind of small. Don't blame me. That's the one that the league sent over to me in a release.

I got you, though.

Ah, there we go.

Now, remember, the tournament is single elimination. The winner gets $200,000, so they aren't just playing for pride here.

A noticeable change to the format this year, which goes back to my offseason reporting, is that they switched up the pods so that the bigs are separated from the guards.

I was told that they didn't decide the final format until "well into January."

Before we get into some predictions, let's make sure that we understand the format:

• All games will be 10 minutes in length or to when a player reaches the Winning Score, whichever is reached first.
• The Winning Score will be 11 points for all rounds except for the final round, which will feature a best-of-three format with each game’s Winning Score being 7 points.
• The clock will not stop for the duration of the games. With a seven-second shot clock for each possession, Unrivaled’s fast-paced game and environment will be on full display.

Yeah, that's straight from the release, too.

OK, so let's look at some initial matchups that stand out as being must-watch.

Top five matchups

Skylar Diggins vs Jordin Canada: We saw how Diggins operated in the tournament last year. Handed the ball off and pressed up on defense right away. There are few smaller players who can beat that type of coverage – and Canada is one of them. She's one of the most explosive guards in women's basketball, and she's able to stop on a dime if she has separation for a pull-up.

Allisha Gray vs Saniya Rivers: Rivers is the breakout player of Unrivaled this year, as she's been one of the best defenders in the entire league, blocking everyone's shot. Lish is the definition of a walking bucket, being able to score at all levels. It's a true strength versus strength matchup here.

Aliyah Boston vs Alyssa Thomas: I'm always interested when it comes to Thomas in a one-on-one tournament given the nature of her offense comes within feet of the basket. That's right in the area where Boston excels defensively. Thomas will be the underdog, which feels weird to say.

Aaliyah Edwards vs Dominique Malonga: Edwards was the talk of the tournament last year, knocking off No. 1 seeds on her way to a deep tournament run before losing to Napheesa Collier. She earned a No. 2 seed this year, but rookie sensation Malonga is waiting for her. If Malonga gets by Edwards, will we see the first dunk in tournament history?

Courtney Williams vs Veronica Burton: This is just going to be a blast. Both players excel in the mid-range, with Williams being arguably the best in the world at the deep two. I lean slightly to Williams here due to the defense.

Upset Alert

The only No. 1 seed that I could see losing in the first round is Gray to Rivers, but I'm not picking it. The others, well, I just don't see happening.

If I had to pick a player to go on a true run as an upset (I'm not counting No. 5 seeds here, sorry), it's Sonia Citron. Citron is a three-and-D player, whose offensive bag is underrated.

She gets Marina Mabrey, who we know can score in bunches, in the first round. But, we also know that Mabrey can be streaky, where Citron is quietly consistent.

If she can get by Mabrey, that would set her up to take on the winner of Rhyne Howard and Rae Burrell. I can't see her beating Howard, but we didn't see Edwards knocking off Breanna Stewart last year, either.

The other player I'm looking at is Shakira Austin. She can use her size against Dearica Hamby in the first round, while also spacing the floor and hitting shots from deep. For her size, she's able to handle the ball well, which can help her against Hamby.

If she advanced there, she would take on the winner of Edwards and Malonga.

Best Draw

No disrespect at all to Rachel Banham, but if Kelsey Mitchell doesn't win by at least 11-3, I'll be shocked. It's the biggest talent disparity of any matchup – not to mention it being a No. 1 vs. No. 8.

Worst Draws

We could say Banham here, of course, but I'm looking at matchups where both players are Sweet 16 capable, but one has to go home.

Kahleah Copper vs Rickea Jackson stands out in this way. Both of them are two of the purest scorers in all of the world, but they have the unlucky draw of facing each other in the first round.

Arike Ogunbowale was my pick to win it all last year, and she had a nice showing! I'll still put her bag and Chennedy Carter's against anyone in the league. She has to face Brittney Sykes in the first one, which is a really tough draw defensively.

A low-key fun matchup is going to be a clash of veterans with Chelsea Gray and Natasha Cloud. Gray is Unrivaled, putting on a show each and every night. Cloud's calling card is her perimeter defense, which gives her an Elite Eight ceiling.

Prediction

The wonderful Cory McDonald put together an interactive bracket last year, so I recommend filling one out with some friends or just for fun.

This is what my initial bracket looks like. I may do another one or two, but I feel good about this. I cut off the first round, because it was way too big (TWSS), but I had Austin, Malonga, Citron, Jackson, and Burton all advancing as lower seeds.

The Elite Eight with Kelsey Mitchell, Kelsey Plum, Paige Bueckers, Jackie Young, Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Aliyah Boston, and Shakira Austin is start-studded and will have some of the best hoops you can imagine.

I think that Kelsey Plum is made for a tournament like this, with her handles, step-back ability, driving, and pull-up game giving her the deepest offensive bag of anyone. But that potential matchup against Bueckers is going to feed families.

On the bottom side of the bracket, I'm all in with Austin making a deep run to the Final Four, but I have it ending against Howard. Howard is too good at both ends of the floor, being able to compete with the bigger Austin.

The Emoji Guide

Last year, in the WoSpo discord that I'm in, the Unrivaled One-on-One Tournament had the channel popping.

For each matchup, I would come up with creative emojis for people to cast their votes on who they had winning.

That's returning this year, and here is an inside look at the emojis that we'll be using for each player.

Kelsey Mitchell 🐰

Rachel Banham 3️⃣

Courtney Williams 💎

Veronica Burton 💜

Skylar Diggins ☝️

Jordin Canada 🇨🇦

Kelsey Plum 🚬

Natisha Hiedeman 🎤

Paige Bueckers 📖

Kate Martin 🦅

Arike Ogunbowale 🪽

Brittney Sykes 🔒

Jackie Young 💪

Tiffany Hayes 🦹‍♀️

Chelsea Gray ⛪️

Natasha Cloud 🌧️

Allisha Gray 🥽

Saniya Rivers 💦

Kahleah Copper 😳

Rickea Jackson 💅

Marina Mabrey 🤬

Sonia Citron ☘️

Rhyne Howard 🎨

Rae Burrell 🎶

Breanna Stewart 🐶

Li Yueru ✌️

Aliyah Boston 🐓

Alyssa Thomas 🚂

Dearica Hamby 🧑‍🧒

Shakira Austin 💃

Aaliyah Edwards 🦴

Dominique Malonga 🇫🇷

Until Next Time

We'll see you back in this spot on Friday.

Take care of yourself and each other this week.

I love you awesome nerds.