This “Sweet 16” round of Stock Market Madness pits iconic sports apparel company Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) against a top household name that Americans trust with their everyday needs: Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG).

While Procter & Gamble sells household cleaning and personal products and Nike sells clothing (and dreams of being a top athlete), both companies do share a few things in common — namely, PG and NKE have excellent brands and are considered by many to be the best in their respective businesses.

They’re a bit more different when you look at price performance. Over the past year, NKE has crushed PG 23% to 7%.

But will that outperformance hold true going forward?

Nike (NKE)

The Nike brand wasn’t just built from quality athletic clothing. It was built on a dream — a dream Nike has planted in the thoughts of countless kids via its excellent advertising. Nike sells the idea that riches, fame and greatness are all within reach — they’re just a pair of shoes away.

Let’s be honest: A Nike mesh athletic shirt isn’t going to make the difference between reaching the NBA and getting cut from your small-college team. But the perceived quality sure is different enough that a simple Swoosh commands a high price premium.

Are Nike basketball shoes really more advanced than anything from Under Armour Inc. (NYSE:UA) or Adidas AG (OTCMKTS:ADDYY)? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, depending on the comparison. But again … you slap the Jordan logo onto the side, and you can ask what you want for those shoes.

There’s a reason Nike has 95% market share. Yes, it makes quality products, but more than anything, NKE sells itself like no other.

In fairness, competition is getting more stiff. Under Armour is proving itself an increasingly worthy competitor with its own slew of technologically advanced sportswear. Still, you could do worse than be the top dog in an industry that’s still growing. After all, with more Americans (and other members of the global community) changing their lifestyles to healthy ones, the demand for athletic clothing and accessories is only going to expand.

Procter & Gamble (PG)

Walk into most homes in the U.S., and you’re going to find a Procter & Gamble product. Yes, generics are increasing in popularity, but brand loyalty is far from dead in products such as Bounty paper towels (still the toughest!), Febreze smell sanitizers and Head & Shoulders shampoo.

For that reason, Procter & Gamble is one of the most stable, reliable and enduring companies the world has ever seen. If you buy PG stock, you will sleep soundly — the company will always claw back from market pullbacks, and you’ll never have to worry about the company just falling off a cliff tomorrow. Moreover, it’s a Dividend Aristocrat boasting well more than a century of uninterrupted payouts, and it yields more than 3% to boot. So not only are you buying safety, but you’re buying dependable income too.

In short: If you put your long-term money in P&G, you can expect at the very least that your money will be safe, and most likely that it’ll grow.

At least modestly, anyway.

See, what makes Procter & Gamble great is also what holds it back. There’s scarce room to grow in the U.S.; the market is already saturated with P&G products. Meanwhile, overseas growth is achievable, but it’s not cheap, and it’s not quick. Procter & Gamble doesn’t have the same brand recognition abroad. Gaining that will take time and a lot of marketing spend.

Our Second-Round Pick: NKE

Ultimately, this comes down to a simple question: Do you want growth, or do you want stability? Frankly, I want growth, and Nike simply offers the clearer path to bigger gains. Just like the past year, Nike likely will outpace Procter & Gamble in the years to come — but you’ll also have to tolerate a lot more movement in NKE than you would with PG.

I can handle that, so Nike gets my vote.

Head back to the Stock Market Madness bracket to vote for your favorite stocks and check out other previews!

As of this writing, Matt Thalman was long PG, but will soon be purchasing shares of NKE after further researching the company for this competition. You can follow him on Twitter at @mthalman5513.