It's Deja Vu all over again: Florida meets Ohio St. in national championship game (this time in hoops)

LLllleeeeet'sssss get rrrrrrreaaadddddy tooooooo rummmmmbbllllleeeeee....Ok, sorry. I know that phrase has been used more times than Paris Hilton, but hey, give me a break here...After two pretty good games on Saturday, although the Florida one had about as much drama as Dumb and Dumber, we now are down to two--The Florida Gators and The Ohio State Buckeyes....Can you FEEL IT? YEAAAAAH!!!!

Alright, enough with the hype. Not like it's really needed.

First of all, before we start to get into the crystal ball antics that I seem to conjure up (yes, I was 2-0 in picking the winners of these games, but who's counting?), I need to go on record that everyone in the world is going to continue to bring up the matchup from this year where Florida walloped the Buckeyes by almost 4 touchdowns. As the cliche goes, that was then and this is now. The teams are different, the attitudes different, and the stage is different. I don't really believe this holds 1 drop of water that goes into what is going to go down on Monday evening.

Ok, now that we have the disclaimers and legal mumbo jumbo out of the way (sign here, initial here, and here, whoops, can't forget there, and...ok, we're done), we can get to the meat of the matter. This matchup, in the most certain of terms, will be dyn-o-miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite! I mean, who can ask for more? (Other than my wife who almost cried when UCLA lost because it ruined her chance to win our pool we were in) We've got the charismatic and either loved or hated Joakim Noah, the speak softly and carrying a big stick marvel Greg Oden, the workhorses in Al Horford and Ron Lewis, the flamboyant gamesmanship of Mike Conley and Corey Brewer, the role players in Lee Humphrey and Ivan Harris, and the leaders Thad Matta and Billy "Don't compare me to Rick Pitino just quite yet" Donovan.

Seriously, what else can you ask for? The "Thad Five" was literally built the exact same way the original Fab Five from Michigan was characteristically done--with power players at every position to beat you in many different ways. Meanwhile, Florida's quest for a repeat with the first starting five ever to do it is another great story. This train wreck should have been in everyone's final game when doing their brackets...when you really think about it. (But of course, no, I got sold into believing Durant would carry Texas and that Texas A&M would surprise...silly me--no, please..do not contact me with any timeshare offers...)

Now that we have established the greatness of this game, what does this mean when you break it down?

1) The interior matchup is absolutely monumental. Ohio State faced almost the entire first half without Greg Oden versus Georgetown when he picked up two fouls within the first 2 seconds of the game. Ok, maybe it wasn't that quick, but come on refs! Good grief! Meanwhile, even though Florida cruised by UCLA, it was much in due part to Brewer's uncanny ability to hit threes when it counts and Humphrey getting hot in the second half. Otherwise, Horford and Noah's points were all garbage points, and Noah's free throw shooting is almost as ugly as Shaq's. Ok...that may be stretching it...but who in their right mind taught the guy to shoot from the charity stripe like Charlie Hough used to throw knuckleballs?

With all of these factors in mind for the interior games of both teams, I will give my edge to Florida, simply because I believe the emotion that Noah shows in everything he does (I have heard it's really something to be in the bathroom at the same time as him), that this will rattle Oden and get him out of his game. If there was one thing that I could tell from the semifinal game, Oden did NOT like the fact that Hibbert had a great first half and really tried to outplay him in the second half--and luckily for him, alot of the shots he forced up fell. With Horford and Brewer also able to help defend, the key for Oden to overcome this is his passing ability and then the guards' ability to hit the three.

2) Which leads me to my next point. While Conley still should have a solid game and get his points and assists, I believe the player to get the Buckeyes over the hump will be Lewis. His senior leadership, clutch shooting in the past, and ability to play off of teams consistently pressuring Conley and Oden--should lead to more open looks for Lewis, and he has got to shoot the lights out to outgun Florida.

Florida certainly has the experience and the ability, and they made UCLA look awful in the semifinals. Ohio State played nip-and-tuck with Georgetown for three quarters of the game, and then again took control when it needed to be done. While I would love to see the Buckeyes do it, I just think that the depth and defensive tenacity that the Gators show will wear the Buckeyes down and frazzle them on the arc. I believe that it will be a much better game than Florida-UCLA, but a similar result: I am going with the Gators winning 74-67, and Billy Donovan will be able to go to coach Kentucky in about two weeks.

Everyone take care...Goosey...

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It's Deja Vu all over again: Florida meets Ohio St. in national championship game (this time in hoops)

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