No. 1 Ohio State (34-3) vs. No. 2 Georgetown (30-6)

Senior guard Ron Lewis has to be the unsung hero for the Buckeyes this tournament. He is averaging 22 points per game and helped Ohio State win a few tough games (Xavier and Tennessee). The fact that Greg Oden has had limited minutes the past few games, and that Ohio State has won those games, shows the depth of this team. Mike Conley Jr., the team’s other freshman, has scored 21, 17 and 19 points in the last three games. While Ohio State is happy to be in the Final Four, the big picture is that it easily could have lost its past three games. The Buckeyes tend to struggle early before finally playing good basketball. Down by 17 at halftime to Tennessee, they managed to win by a point. Even against Memphis, they won by 16 points, but the game was tied up until about seven minutes remaining in the game. If the Buckeyes struggle out of the gate against Georgetown, there will be no coming back this time.

Georgetown is led by junior center Roy Hibbert. He has had five straight double-doubles, scoring more than 10 points and collecting more than 10 rebounds in each game during that time span. He has also had 11 blocks in the tournament, including six in the thrilling overtime win against North Carolina. In addition to Hibbert, all four other starters also scored in double figures in that win. This game was a total team effort and might have left the Hoyas feeling a little tired. They will gladly rest for a week before playing again on Saturday. The weakness of the Hoyas is that they tend to get into foul trouble. That almost killed them this weekend, as North Carolina made 29 of 34 free throws. When all is said and done, expect Georgetown to jump out to a fast start and edge out Ohio State.

No. 1 Florida (33-5) vs. No. 2 UCLA (30-5)

In a rematch of last year’s championship game, almost all the same players will be involved in this one. The only major loss will be that of Jordan Farmar, UCLA’s starting point guard of a year ago, who left after just two seasons for the NBA. Many other UCLA players have stepped up since his departure. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has been averaging the same points and rebounds per game as last year, while playing better defensively, blocking more shots and having more steals than a year ago. Junior guard Arron Afflalo averages 17 points per game, and has surpassed that number in three of the four games in the tournament. While the Bruins are a good 3-point shooting team, their free-throw shooting is only 66 percent, and if this game comes down to the wire, they could be in trouble.

Florida’s starting lineup has been the same for two years now, and things seem to be working out well. All are upperclassmen; Green, Horford, Brewer and Noah are juniors, while Humphrey is the lone senior. Each also scores in double figures. This team does not have much depth, as Chris Richard and Walter Hodge are really the only two other players who ever see any minutes. Florida is an excellent rebounding team, and makes a living off of the glass. While they have dominated the tournament over the past year, winning 10 consecutive games, this team is not without faults. The Gators are very turnover-prone, and also have not won a game by more than 10 points since the opening round blowout of the No. 16-seeded Jackson State. Yes, they have been there before and know what it takes to win the title, but UCLA understands what it means also, having gotten there last year when they came up just short of a national title themselves. Getting back into the championship game is what is on both of these teams minds, but the heartbreak UCLA suffered last year will not occur again this year, as they get by Florida on Saturday.

Looking ahead to the 2007 National Title game between two No. 2 seeds Georgetown and UCLA, expect to see a great game. It should be very close, and as nice as it would be if Georgetown could win, giving Binghamton’s new head coach, Kevin Broadus, a championship ring, UCLA will be cutting down the nets in Atlanta; the second time’s the charm.