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Sports Gospel: Florida must win it all
Everyone enjoys a good love fest, so make sure you check out another 3-4 articles today on how special the run by George Mason is and about just how great Glen “Big Baby” Davis is. There is plenty of love to go around for all four of the final teams as they have already won their National Championship. The NCAA tournament is the only p that the top three runners-up get honored as champions as the success of most programs and coaches are judged on final four appearances rather than National Championships. While we are still enjoying this love fest and are happy that everyone gets to be a winner, let’s remember one thing- Florida must win the National Championship.
Most Americans find themselves riding the Patriot train and hoping for the ultimate finale to the made-for-Hollywood run of George Mason, and why not? They are a great story and have a lot going for them (see yesterday’s column). Others are pulling for the Tigers of LSU, and hoping that the charismatic child can bring home a National Championship. Some are rooting for UCLA to return to their winning ways by winning it all (although I haven’t met a single UCLA fan yet, but I’m assuming there is one or two somewhere, maybe in California). Yet, for the good of college basketball, these teams cannot win the National Championship.
For this tournament to really go down as one of the best of all time, it needs a true champion. Not a team with only talented, but undersized, shooting guard running the point and two big post threats. Not a team with the strongest backcourt, UCLA, which is led by All-American Jordan Farmar and Arron Aflalo. While the backcourt is strong, there is nothing exceptional about the rest of the roster. And George Mason, at the end of the day, is still George Mason (don’t get me wrong, they are a great, great team- but are hurting in the star power department).
If a team like George Mason was to win the title it would be a very touching end to a great success story. Unfortunately, it would be something that would take years for college basketball to live down, as the story would spin more from the miracle storyline to the “this is what happens when college basketball’s best players are playing professionally” storyline. It would be less about a great team doing something special and beating teams stocked full of talent, and it would become more about who they didn’t defeat.
The cynics would be out in full force. “Would George Mason ever win against a team with LeBron James or Dwight Howard? What about Louisville with Sebastian Telfair running the point or Wake Forest with Chris Paul? Would they be able to handle against frontcourts led by Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire? What about Syracuse with a senior Carmelo Anthony to help out Gerry McNamara? Would they stand a chance even against UCONN with Charlie Villanueva in the paint still (Villanueva was en route to a 48-point performance in the NBA while his old teammates were being bulldozed by a group of amateurs)? This would even happen with LSU and UCLA to a slightly lesser extent. Florida, meanwhile, can fit the mold of a true champion.
The Gators, while still fairly young, are chock full of talent. Were they to go pro, Florida forwards Al Horford and Joakin Noah would be surefire first-rounders. Point guard Taurean Green and swingman Corey Brewer both have the potential to end up in the first round at the conclusion of their careers. This team has the most firepower of any team in the final four and talent on the level of a Connecticut spliced with the attitude of a George Mason.
They play great team basketball and despite the level of talent on Billy Donovan’s club, there are no egos that get in the way. This is even more shocking because they lost three underclassmen to the NBA last season, but the addition by subtraction turned Florida from a rebuilding team to a contender.
They’ve got the talent level and star power worthy of a champion, they have the best coach left in the tournament, they are a great team, and they play hard like college kids should (take note Connecticut players, you’re not in the NBA yet). George Mason is already an unbelievable underdog story, they’ve won their national championship. The same goes for LSU and UCLA (and to a fair extent, Florida) as they will still be remembered as winners. But college basketball needs a real champion and the only team that fits the bill is Florida.
Mark Chalifoux is a columnist with SFM
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