….bruhhh….huh? What? Where am I?

What day is it?

Yikes! It’s Monday night??? Gosh, I knew that second Final Four game was boring enough to put me to sleep, but I didn’t think I’d actually pass out for two days while writing about it!

Yes, it was that bad, ladies and gentlemen. Those were two of the least inspiring Final Four games I’ve ever watched. All we can hope for is a better game tonight. I’ll be doing a modified live blog of the game tonight, but with a bunch of other stuff thrown in. It’s been quite a day in college basketball, with coaching changes and other fun stuff.

Anyway, they’re doing the starting lineups right now, so let’s kick it into live-blog mode.

9:20 PM: My prediction for this game…depends totally on the officiating. If Ted Valentine is in any way, shape, or form a part of the officiating crew, then it’s curtains for the Buckeyes. If not…then I’ll go with Ohio State. Conley has to control the pace, they have to get great contributions from Lighty and Cook (as well as Lewis and the rest of the supporting cast), and they have to get at least 30 minutes out of Oden. If there’s no TV Ted, I’ll say OSU 77, Florida 73. If TV Ted is on the officiating crew, it’ll be Florida 78-63.

9:24 PM: Okay, no Ted Valentine, which is good for OSU. However, on the first possession, the refs let Horford drag Oden right out of the lane on a rebound, which isn’t good. Quick flurry of points early on here, as it’s now 3-2 Florida.

9:25 PM: Holy crap! It’s Al Horford’s first foul of the tournament!

9:27 PM: Conley is just sick. Great driving layup, although they just gave him a foul. Ohio State doesn’t seem at all nervous, nor should they be. They’ve stuck with man-to-man defense so far, which I think is going to be a key to victory. And now Oden gets his first points on a pretty post move. 9-5 OSU.

9:29 PM: Decent start to this game so far - Florida hits a layup to get it to 9-7, and we’re at the first timeout.

So, I talked about big news earlier — Dana Altman is leaving Creighton and heading to…no, not Iowa City. Fayetteville! (Fayetteville?) Curious move for a guy that we had been told for weeks was the top choice of the Iowa Hawkeyes. Strangely, according to Andy Katz, Iowa never contacted him. What gives with that? I’ve got some theories, but we’ll get to those later on.

Iowa, not to be outdone (I guess…), reportedly is set to hire former Butler coach Todd Lickliter.

Alright, back to action. More in a bit.

9:34 PM: I like Ohio State’s game plan so far - get the ball in to Oden on half the possessions, and have the guards penetrate on the dribble the rest of the time. 11-9 Ohio State, 13:40 left.

9:40 PM: Alright, despite the officiating crew not containing Ted Valentine, the refs have decided to call every touch foul that they see. Strange. Even stranger is that Oden has no fouls so far, whereas each significant Florida post player has one apiece.

Packer and Nantz have decided to continue this asinine commentary that was started after Saturday night about how it’s unfair that basketball players in college only get five fouls. With the way they (and Vitale, and many others) have been talking, I’m absolutely shocked that players like Ewing, Olajuwon, Alcindor, Walton, Benson, Mourning, and so forth were able to both survive and thrive in college despite having only five fouls.

OSU’s having problems now. Conley picked up a cheap second foul, and Florida gets back-to-back three-point possessions. UF leads now 17-11.

9:45 PM: 17-13 Florida, 10:51 left in the first half. Ohio State is shooting over 50%, but they’re giving Florida too many opportunities off of turnovers.

Wow. Greg Oden just grabbed a Brewer shot with both hands, but once again the Buckeyes can’t convert. Having Conley on the bench is really throwing this team off.

9:48 PM: Alright, I’m confused. Richard backs in on Oden, and Oden reaches in for a foul. I get that part. Yet they give Richard a two-shot foul, even though it should’ve been a 1-and-1. Strangely, no complaints from the Ohio State bench.

Conley is back in, and they need some offense. These long three pointers are not getting the job done. 21-15 Florida at the under 8 timeout.

9:52 PM: Let’s get back to the coaching situation(s) across the land during this timeout. Brian over at MGoBlog picked up a post (which was later deleted) that the Beilein-to-Michigan move is all but official. The WVU fans seem resigned to this move, so I’ll take them at their word for the moment. Good move for Michigan? Really hard to say at this point. On the one hand, Beilein’s teams have been successful at every stop he’s made so far, be it Canisius, Richmond, or West Virginia. On the other hand, I’m having a hard time reconciling the Maize and Blue supporters, who cut their teeth on Fab Fivery, getting all juiced up watching a 1-3-1 zone and a Princeton offense. It COULD work, but I wonder.

9:58 PM: They’ve called 8 fouls so far on OSU, versus only 4 on Florida. No free throws for Ohio State so far. This is not an isolated phenomenon. I don’t have the exact numbers right in front of me, but Florida so far has gone the entire tournament without having a game where they had less than 10 more foul shots than their opponent.

Richard just got called for his second foul, which could throw a kink in the “Body-by-Gators” plan that Donovan has set up to defend Oden.

OSU misses yet another three pointer. 30-22 Florida as Brewer knocks in a long range shot himself. Ohio State has only looked comfortable so far in their transition offense.

10:03 PM: Noah picks up his second foul — yet I wonder how that foul on Oden (which was ruled a non-shooting foul) was in any way different than Oden’s foul on Richard earlier in the game? If you have answers, tell me. Really.

Ohio State would be in this game if they’d quit turning the ball over 15-20 feet from the basket. Credit Florida for really exploiting the hesitation with which the Buckeyes are handling and passing the ball high in their sets.

Will Ohio State shoot any free throws this half? One has to wonder.

10:08 PM: Free throws for OSU! Oden gets a one-and-one, and splits the pair. OSU seems to have toned down the turnovers a bit, but Florida’s hitting absolutely everything right now. Horford buried a 16-footer, and Green just knocked down the Gators’ fifth consecutive trey. Buckeyes get a critical steal on Florida’s last offensive possession, but then waste it with a bad offensive possession of their own to close the half. It’s Florida up 40-29 at halftime, and unless OSU improves their perimeter defense, that may be as close as the Buckeyes get the rest of the way.

10:37 PM: That was a long freakin’ halftime. Okay, second half has reached the 15:16 mark, and basically nothing has changed. OSU’s perimeter D is still suspect, the Buckeyes still can’t hit any shots from outside, and Oden’s so scared of fouling that Horford is getting into a nice groove from about 15 feet. 49-40 Florida, and time is running out for the Buckeyes to put a dent in this UF momentum.

10:45 pM: Conley drives in and draws a foul on a shot attempt. I was wondering where the hell he went — after he picked up that second foul, he basically disappeared. Ohio State is doing a good job still of penetrating and drawing fouls, but with Florida’s depth, it’s not really having that much of an effect.

What’s the deal with Florida’s big men tiring out so quickly? Noah has been sucking wind for most of this game. Surely it’s not the altitude?

Wasted possession by OSU, but Florida can’t answer. Lewis finally tacks on a couple of points. Florida up 51-44.

10:49 PM: Someone needs to send a message to the Ohio State bench: THE THREE POINTERS ARE NOT WORKING. DRIBBLE PENETRATION!

Apparently Oden is NOT going to pick up another foul today. Interesting development, although ultimately meaningless unless the rest of the Buckeyes start to hit shots.

Switching back to the coaching situation(s) for a minute, I have to admit that I’m puzzled by Iowa’s hire. If you accept the premise that Alford was basically chased out of Iowa City by the new AD, then one would’ve expected Iowa to go with a bigger-name coach — someone who had already cut their teeth at a BCS conference program. Granted, Pearl turned them down, but there are several other candidates out there who the Hawkeyes could’ve thrown some money at. I really don’t get how Todd Lickliter is an upgrade over Steve Alford. Yes, Lickliter’s team made the Sweet 16 this year…but then again, an Alford-coached Southwest Missouri State team made the Sweet 16 immediately prior to his matriculation to Iowa in 1999. I’m also curious as to why Iowa didn’t even attempt to contact Altman.

11:00 PM: At the 8:23 mark of the second half, the clock is officially running on OSU’s season. They absolutely cannot afford to stay cold from the field. Florida’s fouling left and right, but OSU simply cannot convert worth crap in this game. Oden’s really put in a great effort, and Conley seems to be coming alive, but OSU is still down 9 and doesn’t seem able to play two consecutive defensive possessions.

Case in point - Oden with a huge block, yet Horford gathers it in, fires a pass to Humphrey, and puts Florida up by double digits again. OSU has to get this deficit to 5 or less by the under-4 timeout. The full court pressure is helping, but the Buckeyes still can’t seem to score in anything but transition. 6:17 left, and Florida leads 64-56.

11:10 PM: Heck of a game so far for Oden - 22/11, but Florida continues to hit open shots (and OSU continues to not guard properly on the perimeter. 3 for 2 trade on that possession, and OSU trails by 7.

11:14 PM: Game over at the 3:22 mark - Horford hits a drifting shot with the shot clock winding down, OSU misses a 3, and Florida gets possession.

11:16 PM: Well, ultimately this game was decided by three things:

1) Ohio State’s inability to defend Florida on the perimeter (and Florida’s ability to hit those open shots)

2) Florida’s tenacity on the offensive glass, particularly after Oden shot blocks

3) Ohio State’s inability to come up with ANY sort of a consistent second offensive option to complement Oden.

This wasn’t a bad game, per se…heck, it’s still going on…but OSU just was a bit too deficient in those areas. Quite remarkable that the Gators were able to play this well despite getting basically no contribution from Noah.

11:28 PM: It’s all over but the crying now. So Florida becomes the first repeat champions since Duke in 1991-92. I’m not convinced of this Florida team’s greatness…but as with any sort of historical comparison, it’s something that takes time to consider. So we’ll save that for a later date.

Final score: Florida 84, Ohio State 75 — for all the reasons I outlined above, and probably a few more that will make themselves clearer as we delve into the statistics.

And so another college basketball season ends. I’m sad. It’s been another entertaining spring, even if the tournament itself was kinda meh. Now all that’s left is to see how badly they butcher “One Shining Moment” tonight. More on that in a second.

11:56 PM: It took nearly 30 minutes from the end of the game to “One Shining Moment”. That’s criminal, CBS…especially on a school night!

Anyway, this year’s OSM wasn’t as vomit-inducing as the past decade or so. At least this time around they integrated a few actual game highlights — albeit using the courtside camera angles that give weaker stomachs motion sickness. Still, it’s an improvement over past years, where it’s been almost all reaction shots and short cutaways. I miss the original OSMs, where the majority of footage used was actual game footage.

I also miss the original singer (and writer) of the song, although his name escapes me. I’m sure CBS considers it a feather in their hat to have Luther Vandross singing the song, and I have all the respect in the world for Vandross as a singer. But his rendition of the song is just ridiculously fake. Why can’t we have an emotional reading of the song without the accompanying finger-down-the-throat effect? Sadly, I’m afraid that the era of the non-Vandross OSM is long since gone.

Okay, that’s it for tonight. Thanks for tuning in.