ATLANTA- To put it simply, tonight’s NCAA Tournament championship game is Florida’s to lose. As good a basketball team as Ohio State has, it isn’t where Florida is at the moment. Everything has come together for the Gators. They are where they planned to be at this moment in time, a plan that was hatched shortly after Florida walked off with the national title a year ago. When the celebrating was over, all five starters, Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, Lee Humphrey, Joakim Noah and Al Horford came together and told Coach Billy Donovan, they had more championships to win. All of the Gator five could have made a choice to be drawing NBA money right now but knew as a group they could do something special. And that’s why they are in Atlanta, to win another national championship. 

Oddsmakers also see the Gators winning the championship having installed them the favorite with a -4 ½ point chalk at most offshore sportsbooks along with a 141 total. Back on December 23^rd the Gators played the Buckeyes in Gainesville, Fla., and were favored by -5 ½. That is a game most Ohio State faithful would like to forget. Florida literally ran the inexperienced Buckeyes squad out of the O’Connell Center beating them 86-60.

If playing for a national championship isn’t enough incentive for the young Buckeyes, exacting revenge for that embarrassing 26-point whipping at the hands of the Gators should be.

“I think that game taught us a lot about who we were .” Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said. “We were not a very good basketball team on December 23rd, and quite honestly Florida had a lot to do with that. We've tried to draw from that experience. I think obviously, as I told the team, you go to the Wisconsin game, the last game we lost, we were down 16 in that game and came back. Jamar (Butler) had a great shot to tie the game. So I think it taught us a lot about our strengths and a lot about our weaknesses and gave us a point of reference to what we needed to work on to get better as a team.”

Not that it’s an excuse , but the game at Florida was freshman All-America Center Greg Oden’s fifth college basketball game. If anything the Florida game gave him an education along with fellow freshman Mike Conley Jr.

The challenge for Florida this season has been mostly mental. How would the champions of 2006 handle the pressure of defending their crown in 2007?

“When the ball gets thrown up, do you think anyone cares at that time that Florida last year won a national championship?” Donovan said Sunday. “You can learn from your past, but it’s its own separate game. I think that was my main message to our guys. Getting them to understand the reality of where we are today and what is going on right now, at this moment in time.”

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