Villanova's Omari Spellman, right, dumps confetti on head coach Jay Wright, holding the trophy after their win over Texas Tech in an NCAA men's college basketball tournament regional final, Sunday, March 25, 2018, in Boston. Villanova won 71-59 to advance to the Final Four. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

San Antonio — In gargantuan basketball games too big to be called big, it’s only natural to look beyond heights and wingspans, shooting percentages and rebounding numbers, in search of psychological/emotional edges.

In its national-semifinal matchup vs. Villanova (approximate tip 7:49 p.m.) at Alamodome, Kansas appears to have one disadvantage and one advantage in the human-nature realm.

Disadvantage: KU is coming off the emotional high of defeating Duke in a classic overtime battle that dripped intensity from the first possession through the last. Winning that game was such a great achievement that it won’t be easy to regain the physical vigor and emotional hunger to put forth another extraordinary effort.

As Kansas coach Bill Self said shortly after he stepped off the bus at the team hotel, “When you crash” from an emotional high, “you usually crash pretty hard from a fatigue standpoint.”

Self is mindful of letting the players know they haven’t yet accomplished what counts as historic by Kansas standards.

“I tried to say certain things to make them understand the job’s just starting,” Self said.

As the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, Villanova was the overwhelming pick to get to San Antonio from the East Regional in Boston, so few are giving the Wildcats credit for advancing to San Antonio.

Duke and Michigan State were fashionable picks to make it out of the Midwest. Kansas prevailed, a noteworthy achievement.

Advantage: Villanova opened as the five-point favorite, which seems like a lot of points considering that Kansas has won 12 of its past 13 games.

KU has done a terrific job of playing the Rodney Dangerfield angle, and in the tournament, the underdog tends to embrace the everything-to-gain, nothing-to-lose mentality that enables athletes to compete with free minds and fire fueled by a perceived lack of respect.

It’s easy to see why Villanova was made the favorite, but five points? Seems a bit much.

Self said he understands why Villanova has been established as the team to beat among the four schools.

“They’ve been the best team in the country over the last five years,” Self said. “They’ve only lost 21 games over the last five years. They’re old. They are extremely tough. They are very physical, strong and they can all shoot. And they play their butts off. They really play hard.”

Villanova coach Jay Wright isn’t in the Hall of Fame yet, but it’s just a matter of time.

“Jay is very demanding,” Self said. “I know he looks like (George) Clooney, but he is a demanding dude. He won’t let those guys get by doing anything halfway.”

Comparing the entire seasons, it makes sense that Villanova is favored by five points, but Malik Newman’s startling emergence has changed Kansas enough to make half as many points seem like a more appropriate number.

So with one emotional edge and one disadvantage for Kansas, the pop-psychology verdict is a hung jury.

So it comes down to how the teams match up as basketball players and teams, whose shots are falling, whose are rimming out.

It took 45 minutes to decide Duke vs. Kansas. Fifty minutes? Do I hear 50, anybody?