College Basketball: You Again?
That's what the Ohio State University and the entire sporting world, with the exception of diehard Gator lovers and their recently embarked bandwagon brethren across the land, are thinking after the University of Florida beat down the OSU 84-75 last night to capture the men's NCAA basketball national championship. It's OSU's second consecutive national championship game defeat to Florida, this year.
If you're thinking it's deja vu all over again, you're right. The Gators came into the championship game as the defending NCAA champs -- and went out the same way. Their hard-fought but decisive victory marked the first back-to-back basketball championships by any Division I men's team since Duke's 1990-1992 run and only the second repeat since the end of the John Wooden era at UCLA more than 30 years ago.
Even more amazing, Florida did it with the exact same starting five that won last year's title. Consensus is that this is the first time such a feat has ever been accomplished. In the age of big-money NBA contracts and celebrity pimpage, at a time when one or two years of college ball is becoming the norm, that's really saying something about the commitment and camaraderie of the Florida players and the magnetism and dynamic personality of Gator coach Billy Donovan.
The game itself was not that amazing, except as a canvas for the exceptional teamwork of Florida and the exceptional potential of Buckeye big man Greg Oden. By the end of the first half, Florida had opened up a double-digit lead thanks to lights-out shooting by Lee Humphrey, the all-time NCAA tournament three-point leader, Taurean Green, and Corey Brewer, and they were never really threatened the rest of the game. Superior depth and experience were the difference, with the OSU guards showing the type of inconsistency (4-23 three-point shooting) that many thought would catch up to them much earlier in the bracket.
This year the Ohio State University has been Gator-bait in two national championship games. With apologies to McRib, CHOMP!. Photo from somewhere off the Internet.
In the second half, OSU made a couple of quasi-runs at the Gators, but never got closer than six points. Whenever it seemed that Ohio State might be on the verge of closing the gap, a Florida player -- pick a player, any player (Florida had four players who scored in double digits and seven players who logged more than 10 minutes of game time) -- stemmed the tide with a killer three, a hustle put-back, or a scrappy rebound. At every turn, at every critical moment of the game, it was Florida that prevailed.
And well they should have. As with the title game for the NCAA Division I football championship, Florida proved itself to be the best team in the country and among the greatest teams of all time. Last night's game also proved the NCAA powers that be know what they are doing, whether its making tournament selections or deciding on BCS matchups.
The Florida players are great individually, make no doubt about that, and several will see PT in the NBA, but it is Donovan and his grasp of the game that have brought Florida to such lofty heights. From guiding his team to three Final Fours in just seven years to taking his place among coaching greats like Wooden and Mike Krzyzewski as a back-to-back winner, Donovan has proven that he is the best in the game right now -- aside from maybe Tennessee's Pat Summitt. That's no surprise to old timers like SFist who remember Donovan in his days as Kid Shooter jacking up threes in tiny little short-shorts for Providence College under Rick Pitino. Even then, Billy D had "Winner" written all over him.
Despite his impressive presence, 25 points and 12 boards, Oden couldn't do it all by himself. Credit a brilliant game plan by Donovan and equally brilliant execution by Florida big men Al Horford and Joakim Noah for that. Even so, the dude's potential to be a dominator in the NBA was on full display on even the most mundane plays. In the second half, Oden showed his leaping ability by nearly hitting his head on the Georgia Dome rafters as he skyed for rebounds and blocked shots.
Those who admire the blue-collar qualities of rebounding know that blocking out and rebounding technique can be as pretty as a nothing-but-net three ball, but Oden may take the ballet of rebounding to a new level. On one mundane rebound, Oden sprung so high into the air with such effortless grace that even this cynical sports observer did a double take. Similarly, later in the second half, Oden had the ball on the lower left block with his back to the basket and made a leaping, spinning three-foot jump shot that was similarly eye-popping. How can a three-foot turnaround jumper be spectacular? When the seven-footer making the shoot pulls it off as smoothly as if he were Rip Hamilton. Oden is the real deal, and much to our liking, seems to be a real nice fellow. Now there's a double threat.
So with Florida sitting on an NCAA football championship and back-to-back basketball titles, the question is, can they pull off the Gator slam and win the football title again to make it four straight? Can the basketball team three-peat? Will Billy Donovan shoot for John Wooden at Florida or follow the siren call to Kentucky? Stay tuned.
Wanna see a truly spectacular championship game that features an NC State type of miraculous finish? Check out the rebroadcast of the Division II men's championship basketball game between the 35-0 Winona State Ryders and waaaaay unheralded Barton College. We won't provide a link to information about the game, because it truly is one for the ages and we don't want to spoil it for you. However, the game will be rebroadcast on April 6 at 6:30 p.m. PDT on CSTV. Do not miss this one!