Midnight may be striking for George Mason. Lee Humphrey's early 3's to start the 2nd half has given the Gators a cushion over Mason.

Gators 53, Patriots 36, 10:00 2nd

Yep, I was really hoping for a GM/UCLA final.......I mean a real life "Hoosiers" story with the little known Cinderella school going up against the mightiest school in NCAA history(title wise).....oh well.

A great story nonetheless. They give hope to all the teams below the BCS power conferences that they too have a shot to be a Final 4 club.

I wouldn't have minded GM getting to the Final,but my pick since the FF4 was determined was UF.And today I found out that Brewer is actually from Portland Tenn,where my mom grew up and I still have lots of family.

As for UCLA-bite your tongue.If I never see UCLA in another Final in my lifetime,it'll be about 11 too many.I even rooted for UK in the '75 game,and I detest UK

[ April 01, 2006, 05:22 PM: Message edited by: Tim ]

it looks like UCLA is going to face UF come Monday

go Bruins!

at least I picked one finalist right

Anyone else have UCLA winning it all?

Or am I the only one?

I had them losing to UConn.

Ditto!

A couple of snoozer semis. It looked like GMU might hang with UF, but the early flourish of 3s followed by GMU sputtering put an end to that thought.

UCLA was amazingly sharp. Most teams who have not been to this level in some time come out a bit uptight and find it hard to play their best. (Read -- LSU.) But the Bruins came out from the start and were just too sharp.

If they can replicate the level of play on Monday, we can crown them for the 12th time. UF is good, but I have not been that impressed with them at any point in the year. I think UCLA will have more control over the outcome of the game than the Gators.

This has to be one of the worst final 4 combination of games in the past 15 years....

The periodic checking in on the King of the Hardwood contest provides more excitement and drama...

Lets see if the women can bring some better games tomorrow.

Interesting that George Mason which is in Washington DC's Virginia suburbs had the only team in Div. I playoffs with a starting five who were actually from Maryland (my home state).

One of them, Tony Skinn, reminds me of an uncle I had a crush on in elementary school.

That uncle's son was a very good basketball player who unfortunately died from a tumor (probably cancer) at an early age but was one of the best players at the segregated high school he attended. This photo in particular reminds me of that cousin, though they wore much more revealing shorts back then.

The guy has taken a roundabout route to Div. I and - like the rest of the team - will probably have difficulty getting into (and succeeding in) the NBA because of height, IMO.

Judging from his profile he may be of African descent (one of his middle names is Oludewa), and there are many in the Washington suburbs. I think this one in black and white is the best photo I've seen of him.

I know the smart money is on UCLAh,but I'm hanging with the Gators.I think BD has actually gotten hotter the past year-he seems rejuvenated with this team.It's his second chance to prove he can win the big one,and he seems a lot more looser than he was in 2000.

UF can shoot,as opposed to LSU who were major bricklayers.I also think that their perimeter game is a lot better than what UCLA faced in the PAC 10-extremely quick and they can pull up and hit the 3 with deadly accuracy.And their length inside makes Noah and Green really difficult to defend and keep off the boards.LSU relied on an inside power game,but UF is so versatile,and they have so many weapons.I'll say UF by 8-should be a good game.

It should be a good game. I see the oddsmakers have it very close. Looks like Florida is favored by 1.5 - but others have UCLA winning.

I have to agree about how boring the Final 4 was Saturday. Just no excitement level to speak of; sure hope tonight's game is closely fought, even overtime would be great, anything to liven up the action. Even the women's Final 4 was boring. :confused:

One of my degrees comes from UCLA--and I'm wearing a blue and gold striped tie today--but I don't think the Bruins will be able to pull out a victory tonight.

During the coaches' press conferences, there was almost this sense that both Howland and Donovan were apologizing for knocking out "the Katrina-affected" LSU and "Cinderella" George Mason. It was just weird!

~Adam

What is everyone's pick for tonight?

Jim: UCLA 63, Florida 59
Cyd: UCLA 79, Florida 68

UCLA: 67
Gaytors: 63

Gotta root for the Pac-10.

UCLA 75
Gaytors 71

UCLA 65
UF 61

UCLA 58, Florida 51

Florida 69, UCLA 64 but wouldn't be too surprised to see the score reversed.

~Adam

Gators 69
Bruins 71

UCLA 72
Florida 65

ZZZZZZZZZ....not much excitement in this one either.

Congrats to the Gators!

Yeah, it looks like I didn't miss much from forgetting that the game was on after my 24 stupor.

Congrats go out to the Gators tonight. Not only the first basketball championship in school history, but in state history!

Edit: Haha, there are some confused Illini fans there. I just heard "I-L-L" "I-N-I"

[ April 03, 2006, 08:42 PM: Message edited by: Illini_fan ]

Florida's going to Disney World!

Notice UCLA lost to Florida by more than George Mason did.

73-57 UCLA
73-58 GMU

Dont quit your day jobs!
SEC!
SEC!

Congratulations to the Florida Gators and their NCAA Championship.

That being said the Final Four Games and the Championship games were the most anticlimactic games compared to the earlier rounds and the regular season.

What a snooze. Barely stayed awake to catch the One shining moments.

And speaking of that.. Poor JJ Redick and Adam Morrison.. Especially Morrison. After a year of great play, they are reduced to images of them crying (morrison more then once)To me this is not exactly the best way to send any player out.

How bout less breast shaking shots of the cheerleaders and more action shots of the athletes playing. I mean geez.

Hats off to Billy Donavon for assembling this talent and making it a cohesive unit this year.

Florida's deadly sharpshooter Lee Humpherey from Maryville, TN ( a Knoxville suburb) grew up dreaming of playing for Tennessee. Ex Vol coach Buzz Peterson didn't offer Lee a scholarship and opted to take Dane Bradshaw from memphis that has averaged a measly 4 ppg in his career at UT. This was one of the last straws thas laed to Buzz's firing.

Many of the Florida Players that led their team to a national championship were solid recruits, but some that were overlooked by the Duke's, UNC's, Kentucky's, and so forth. Noah wasn't considered an elite recruit. Cory Brewer was a top 50 recruit. The Same thing with Adrian Moss who as a 5th year senior was signed late into the recruting process and a virtual unknown at that time.

What Donavon did this year considering how much of their starters they lost form last year is special. He is without question the Coach of the Year IMO. Florida's chemistry and looseness alowed them to enjoy their run through the tourney.

Congrats to Florida.

Look out NCAA we are all coming back next year!!!