Mourning Over

In case you were preoccupied with baseball's opening day, Ohio State lost the NCAA Men's basketball national championship on Monday to Florida, 84-75. In a nutshell, Florida guards were deadly from beyond the arc, hitting 10 of 18. Ohio State lived and died by the three all season, and their shooters picked the biggest stage to fall flat. The Buckeyes hit just 4 of 23 shots, 2 of which came after the game was already decided. It's been widely discussed that this is Florida's second consecutive men's title, with a BCS football title sandwiched in between. The latter two wins came at the hands of Ohio State.

A few random thoughts...

Greg Oden played his best game of the season, finishing with. He looked like a man possessed, a man out to prove the doubters, and worst of all, a man who knew this was his last college game. He finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Joakim Noah, the object of much ire from fans this season, was essentially useless. He finished with 8 points and 3 rebounds, but was plagued with foul trouble the entire game. He went from a possible #1 pick to a mediocre lottery option. I hope he enjoyed all of that lousy dancing, screaming and chest-pounding this season.

Despite the persistent rumors and the dazzling play during the tournament, PG Mike Conley Jr. publicly confirmed that he's coming back to Columbus next season. Of course, he has until April 29 to change his mind. if he does choose to return (assuming Oden leaves) Ohio State should be a pre-season top 10 team again. They lose clutch guard Ron Lewis and forward Ivan Harris to graduation, but the cupboard is stocked again.

These are the 8 players you'll see in rotation to start the season. Madsen is a transfer from Vanderbilt that spent the season practicing against Oden. Koufos is a 7'0" center from Canton, Ohio. He's a McDonald's All-American rated as the top 15 players in the entire 2007 class. Should Conley leave, Butler would slide back to point guard, where he played as a sophomore.

G - Mike Conley
G - Jamar Butler
G/F - Daequan Cook, David Lighty
F - Othello Hunter, Kyle Madsen
C - Kosta Koufos, Matt Terwilliger

The rest of the incoming class, along with their Rivals.com ratings.

G Jon Diebler (OH) #15 shooting guard, #59 overall
F Evan Turner (IL) #13 small forward, #46 overall
F Eric Wallace (VA) #31 small forward, #110 overall
C Dallas Lauderdale (OH) #10 center, #106 overall

More on the Ohio State basketball jugernaut in the days to follow. We'll also resume our breakdown of Ohio State football on Friday.