Championship Game Preview Madness

I haven't written about March Madness yet. It's sad now in hindsight. I was too worried about overdoing it. I was scared I'd complain and cry about every bad game I picked (Tennessee over Ohio State was definitely ill advised and biased) or brag and ponder how I'd spend my money after I got one right (VCU over Duke was pure genius and biased) so I refrained from talking about March Madness at all. Now all we have left is one game and it's over until next March.

Anyone who knows me or reads this blog a lot knows that I hate Ohio State. Now they are in the National Championship game against Florida for the second time in 3 months in two different sports. This, along with the fact I have Florida winning it all in every bracket I filled out, is turning me into a de facto Gators fan.

When Florida slaughtered Ohio State back in December, my heart was filled with joy. Greg Oden looked lost and trapped against Joakim Noah, Chris Richard, and a crippled Al Horford, but this team has improved more than any other over the course of the season. I don't know if people are comparing Mike Conley Jr. to Chris Paul or not, but if they aren't, they should be. He has the ability to take over a game when Oden is in foul trouble and he has been for most of the tournament. What's most amazing about this is there have been some instances where the Buckeyes have seemed to flourish even without Oden on the floor (such as the overtime period against Xavier). Cook, Lewis, Butler, and Harris are all great shooters, which comes into OSU's advantage should they get down and need a lot of 3's to catch up.

And then you have the Gators... This is the best starting 5 in college basketball without a doubt. These guys could have the 8 seed in the NBA's Eastern conference right now. Simply getting to the title game two years in a row has made them one of the best teams in history, probably the best of the new millenium thus far. Their post men should have no trouble giving Oden fits down low and they know how to stop OSU's smaller line-up because that was what they had to do back in December.

I said that OSU has improved more than any other team in the country over the season, but I don't think they've improved 26 points worth in the last 4 months. To me, it's like Dan Shanoff said today, this game is the exact reason they all came back for another year of school and they are not going to let it go to waste. And plus, Florida looks like they party more than Ohio State so if they play like they party, it won't even be close.

Also, I need a Gator victory to win my pool this year...