Gators and Buckeyes Could Meet in Atlanta

Now that the madness has begun, it’s time to take a look at two storylines to follow during the 2006-2007 college basketball season.

1. Florida
Can the Gators repeat as national champions? Florida is absolutely loaded, returning its top-six players from a team that steamrolled through the NCAA Tournament. It will be interesting to watch how Florida plays with a bulls-eye on its back and the inevitable complacency that comes with reaching the summit. Billy Donovan and his staff will be challenged to maintain the teams focus and keep everyone satisfied with his touches. If this team demonstrates the selflessness and commitment to defense it displayed during last year’s NCAA Tournament, they should cut down the nets in Atlanta on April 2nd.

2. Ohio State
Will Ohio State make a splash on the national scene? Coming off a conference championship and a 20-win season, the Buckeyes are poised to return to the national conscience and they have just the man to help them get there, national high school player-of-the-year, Greg Oden. This is likely the first and only season Oden will play for free. He’s projected as a potential number one pick in next year’s draft, if he elects to leave after his freshman season. Coach Thad Matta has made basketball matter again in Columbus. He returns just one starter off last year’s team, but has added a top recruiting class, including the ultra-talented Oden. If Oden is as good as advertised and he recovers fully from wrist surgery, expect the Buckeyes to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

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Final Four Always Unpredictable

The NCAA Men’s Final Four is the culmination of the three best weeks of the sporting year, March Madness. For those of us that prefer to overindulge in college basketball year-round, spending three weeks watching games, listening to analysts such as Dick Vitale and Digger Phelps, and tracking our tournament bracket is nothing if not blissful. The only thing predictable about the NCAA Tournament is that it’s unpredictable. How may people outside of Philly had Villanova beating Georgetown in the 1985 national championship game, or what percentage of brackets displayed George Mason picking-off national powers, Connecticut, North Carolina, and Michigan State, on the way to its first-ever Final Four appearance? The upsets and the surprises are not simply reserved for the first four rounds of the tournament; in fact, the Final Four has a history of lower seeds beating higher seeds. For example, four seed Arizona beating one seed Kentucky in the ’97 National Championship or six seed Kansas, lead by Danny Manning, breaking the hearts of Sooner nation by defeating top-seeded Oklahoma in the ’88 national title game in Kansas City.

The Final Four embodies the essence of what makes college athletics great. The passion from players is rivaled only by the enthusiasm from fans, all hoping to earn the right to refer to themselves as national champions. The NCAA Tournament and the Final Four draws the interest of even non-basketball fans, intrigued by the excitement swirling around the event and the tournament’s win-or-go-home format. Unbridled passion…boundless excitement…pageantry…tradition. Make plans now to attend the 2007 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Atlanta, March 31 – April 2. And visit StubHub for all your NCAA Final Four tickets.

Gators looking to defend title in Georgia Dome in 2007

The University of Florida Gators look to defend its national championship, when the 2007 NCAA Men’s Final Four returns to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, March 31 thru April 2. Last year, Head Coach Billy Donovan and his young Gators marched to the national championship by winning its six NCAA Tournament games by an average margin of 16 points, culminating in a 73-57 victory over UCLA in Indianapolis.

The Gators are looking to become just the sixth school in NCAA history to capture back-to-back NCAA Men’s Basketball national championships. With the return of all five starters off last year’s 33-6 team, expectations in Gainesville are understandably high. While Florida is the team to beat entering the 2006-2007 season, the road to Atlanta is paved with teams looking to dethrone the Gators and cut down the nets at the Georgia Dome on April 2. Keep an eye on North Carolina, Kansas, and Ohio State, as the biggest threats to Florida’s quest for a repeat.