When so many golfers migrate north to south, Saturday’s U.S. Amateur semifinal pits two players who have reversed course.

Georgian Jackson Buchanan left home to play collegiately at Illinois. Naples, Florida’s Noah Kent went north to Iowa City and the Hawkeyes.

They’ll face each other in an all-Big Ten semifinal at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska while Spaniards Jose Luis Ballester and Luis Masaveu play in the other semifinal.

The Big Ten might not be a power golf conference like the SEC, the Pac-12 or the Big 12, but it’s got two of the semifinalists in this year’s championship when all three of the world’s top-rated amateur golfers — No. 1 Luke Clanton, Gordon Sargent and Jackson Koivun — all lost out by the Round of 32 match play.

“The Big Ten is not the SEC, but it’s a huge conference,” Buchanan said after beating Notre Dame’s Jacob Modelski 4 and 3. “It’s probably the biggest conference, the best conference. Golf up in the Midwest is as good as down South. I’m from Georgia, so I would know. Obviously, we’re still very competitive. We’re just going to good golf schools.”

Buchanan got through the two-day, stroke-play qualifier and was seeded 53rd before he won Round of 32 and Round of 16 matches by beating both Clanton and 16-year-old Tyler Mawhinney on the 18th hole.

“It feels weird,” Buchanan said. “It doesn’t even feel like I won, like, ‘I didn’t go to 18.’ All right. I played solid. That’s it, really.”

Kent defeated Oklahoma State’s Ethan Fang 3 and 2, ending Fang’s threat to become the first 64th seed to win a USGA championship.