COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S FINAL FOUR : For Them, Superdome Becomes a House of Style : Game 1: North Carolina and Kansas look familiar, and there is little mystery as to why.

Adonis Jordan, Kansas’ point guard, had a novel idea on the eve of the Jayhawks’ NCAA semifinal game against North Carolina today at the Superdome.

Because there is so much ado over the relationship between Roy Williams and Dean Smith, Jordan suggested Friday that the coaches play one-on-one to determine which team advances to Monday night’s championship game.

“I’d like to see that,” Jordan said. “It’d be funny to watch.”

Smith, 62, said he could stay with Williams, 42, for perhaps a minute. On the sideline, however, he is expected to last longer than he did two years ago, when he was ejected near the end of a semifinal loss against the Jayhawks.

So here they are again, Kansas vs. North Carolina. Old friends, old foes, seeking the same bit of basketball immortality.

The programs that are inextricably linked will clash in the semifinals for the second time in three years. The other time this happened, Kansas defeated North Carolina, 79-73, in 1991 at Indianapolis. What might have been an enjoyable moment for both coaches degenerated into an ugly scene when Smith was ejected.

George Lynch said a scuffle after the game between Bill Guthridge, a North Carolina assistant, and officials ruined the Final Four experience.

Such memories have inspired Lynch, now a 6-foot-8 senior forward, to ensure that today’s rematch has an altogether different result.

“I have a lot more to lose than other players on the team,” said Lynch, named the East Regional’s outstanding player. “I’m out there like each time is the last time, which is true.”

Lynch is North Carolina’s leader. But the players on both teams bring with them so many components, they say it is wrong to suggest that any individual will greatly affect the outcome.

That is not surprising, considering the kinds of players Williams and Smith attract.

Because Williams was Smith’s assistant at North Carolina from 1978-88, he has employed many of the Tar Heels’ strategies.

“They know all our plays, we know all of theirs,” Jordan said. “It will be like practice.”

Not exactly. Although Kansas (29-6) and North Carolina (32-4) speak the same chalkboard language, they are by no means identical. Whereas Kansas’ strength is its outstanding backcourt, North Carolina has been successful with a relentless front line.

That said, Kansas also has a formidable center in 6-10 Eric Pauley, who played at Anaheim Savanna High and Cypress College. And North Carolina won the East Regional behind the shooting of sophomore guard Donald Williams.

Still, Smith has watched Kansas enough this season to know where the Jayhawks can hurt his team the most--perimeter shooting.

Kansas guards Jordan and Rex Walters are considered one of college basketball’s finest pairs. Smith also is worried about reserve Steve Woodberry, the Jayhawks’ best three-point shooter.

“Their outside shooting has to be dealt with,” Smith said.

Since losing to Kansas State in the Big Eight Conference tournament semifinals on March 13, Kansas has steadily improved. The turnaround came after its last loss, when the team held a players-only meeting.

“If we were going to lose, we wanted to lose being aggressive,” Jordan said.

It will take diligence to keep Lynch and teammates off the backboards. Eric Montross, the 7-foot center with the size-18 shoes, has become a force for North Carolina’s inside game. And Smith has 7-foot junior Kevin Salvadori on the bench if the starters have foul trouble.

“They are big,” Williams conceded. “But they are bigger walking through the airport than they are on the court.”

True, the two 7-footers usually do not play simultaneously, but they do illustrate the Tar Heels’ inside depth. Although Williams said he is concerned about North Carolina’s size, he says his team’s quickness could negate that advantage.

What none of the players or coaches can change is the connections between the schools. Interestingly, Williams attended North Carolina and Smith went to Kansas. What Dr. James Naismith and Forrest C. (Phog) Allen did for Kansas’ hallowed basketball history, Smith has done for North Carolina.

And North Carolina, like Kansas, won its regular-season conference title but lost in the conference tournament. Georgia Tech won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament by upsetting North Carolina, 77-75, in the final.

But while those comparisons are of interest to fans, they have little bearing on how the players will perform.

Derrick Phelps, North Carolina’s point guard, has concerned himself only with Kansas’ backcourt. “I know it is going to be rough playing against Adonis Jordan, but I’ve been playing against tough guards all season long,” he said.

Kansas players offer the same sentiments.

So there they are, Kansas and North Carolina.

“No matter what happens, we’ll still be friends after it’s over,” Smith said.