[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Bear with me on this one. I don't follow the Big Ten at all (even though I'm surrounded by Penn State fans), so I didn't realize how impressive Oden is. I only watched Ohio State when they played Memphis, and Oden only played 24 minutes because of foul trouble. He was great on the glass, but with Memphis' Joey Dorsey having a horrible game, I wasn't surprised by Oden's dominance.

Anyway, my point is that I hadn't seen much of Oden until last night. So perhaps I'm the last guy in the country who's finally sold on him, but I was impressed. Billy Packer wouldn't shut up about how tired Oden and the Buckeyes were, but he was right. Those kids were gassed at times, yet Oden never stopped hustling. He's quite a talent, and if he and Conley return to OSU next year, they've got to be the favorites to win the title.

As for Florida, it's amazing that the same starting five won the championship two years in a row. It's even more amazing that all five could be gone next year. Humphrey's graduating, and the others are all juniors who will obviously get attention from NBA teams. I don't know if all four juniors will leave, but it could happen. How competitive will the Gators be next year if they lose the whole starting lineup?

Oden sold me last night. I was not really sure from the earlier games in the tournement. Of course you saw flashes throughout the season, but last night was the first time I saw him be dominant on both ends of the court to carry the Buckeyes.