v. versus v versus vs. versus vs
Like the subtitle to my site, “If it weren’t for the exceptions, English wouldn’t have any rules,” the abbreviation of versus is a wide open field, except maybe in legal terms. Even there, whereas v. is standard in American law, other countries that use English prefer v without the period.
Then, for those who prefer the vs. version, the period also appears to be optional, as does italicization.
When all is said and done, the most important point to remember is you probably don’t want any legal issues involving your name and either v or v.
But I can remember the pronunciation. Mike Wilbon started off by pronouncing the singular animal’s name “dunk-key.”