Roy Hibbert vs. Greg Oden
Two of college basketball's best big men will square-off tomorrow, as Ohio State's heralded freshman center Greg Oden gets set to meet all 7-feet-2-inches, 280 pounds of Georgetown junior center Roy Hibbert in the first Final Four match-up.
You've been living under a rock if you haven't heard of Oden - the probable No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft, averaging 15 points, nearly 10 boards and over three blocks per game as a rookie in Columbus. His monster block on Volunteers freshman Ramar Smith at the end of the Tennesse-Ohio State game is the stuff of YouTube.com lore, and his game has bumped up a notch during the postseason. But Roy Hibbert has been a - ahem - sizeable part of Georgetown's success this year, scoring 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds per game while shooting a sterling 67 percent clip from the field.
Hibbert is a nice player (kind of reminiscent of Zydrunas Ilgauskas), but with all due respect to Pittsburgh's Aaron Gray, he hasn't met anybody this year who patrols the paint with the ferocity of Oden. Look for a double-double from the Ohio State star and a berth in the national championship game for his Buckeyes team.
-by Matt Mertens
The Deuces Vs. The Top Seeds
This year's March Madness has been anything but. Despite the collapses of UNC and Kansas, this year's tournament has been pretty much mapped out from the start. But on Saturday, the second siblings will upend their No. 1 opponents.
UCLA takes on a Florida team that has been relatively unchallenged this tournament, while UCLA has been impressive thus far with convincing wins including beating top-seeded Kansas. Led by Arron Afflalo and his 16.9 average along with point guard Darren Collison, the Bruins should be able to find their way to the finals.
Georgetown has been equally impressive this tournament, with a convincing win over Boston College, a close one againt Vanderbilt and the upset over North Carolina after the Tar Heels' complete meltdown in the second half. Ohio State has been tested several times throughout the tourney, including an OT win over No. 9 Xavier in the second round and a nail-biter against Tennessee. Greg Oden and Mike Conley have been outstanding, but their luck will finally run out for them on Saturday.
So will the Hoyas make up for thier upset in 1985, or will UCLA add a 12th national championship to its illustrious history? The two will have to get by some impressive No. 1's tomorrow, but when all is said and done, it's going to be the boys from California cutting down the net.
-by Andrew Bauld
