Everyone here in Atlanta was assuming on Monday afternoon that the 2007 Final Four would become a truly memorable one.

Either Florida would accomplish the rare repeat or future Hall of Famer Greg Oden would join the ranks of Magic Johnson, Bill Walton, Michael Jordan, etc. as a distinguished champion on the collegiate level.

Seeing Oden in person for the first time over the past few days, I now believe the rumor that he has inherited/stolen the wallet of Jules Winfield.

Oden managed to stay clear of foul trouble in the championship game, but on both sides of the floor he was playing as if he was in a China shop and there is nothing scrawny about the 6-10 Al Horford.

I still believe staying in college one year too long is better than coming out one year too early, but Oden?s situation is an anomaly because he is routinely punished due to his size.  He belonged in the professional game as a freshman and certainly belongs now.  

While Ohio State shot miserably from three-point territory, Oden single handedly kept them within striking distance.

He had shown flashes of domination throughout the season, but Monday?s game was a time where he descended onto the biggest stage in college sports without trepidation and more impressively a very clear concept of what he wanted to accomplish.  

Playing so frequently without Oden this season did catch up with them in the championship game.  Key scorer Ron Lewis could not find his rhythm at all, showing passivity in the halfcourt game that I had not seen before.  The majority of his points came on fast breaks and in transition.  As an undersized shooting guard, he may fall into the Flip Murray strata on the professional level, but he appears to have NBA range and as Isiah Thomas well knows, reliable perimeter shooting is difficult to come by.

But speaking of Thomas, has there been a point guard to come along that resembles the former Indiana guard closer than Mike Conley?  Chris Paul would be the other but the stockier frame of the 2006 Rookie of the Year makes him a slightly different breed.

At such a young age, Conley?s ability to knife through traffic and finish from eight feet in with either hand seemed to be the consensus favorite moment of the Atlanta crowd.  If Oden carries Jules? wallet, then Conley is definitely a little Fonzie.  

All indications are that Oden will leave Columbus while Conley will return for one more season, despite now being projected as a surefire top-ten selection.  There will be enough pieces left around Conley for them to remain a top-ten team and I predict we will see one of the finest sophomore seasons from a point guard since Jason Kidd?s last season at California.

On to Billy Donovan and company.. Since they do not have marquee players who will go on to All-Star careers in the NBA, I can already see this team becoming a forgotten champion in the vein of the Flintsones of Michigan State.  But Florida basketball from 2005 until 2007 has to be considered the finest since the early 90?s Duke team.  This comparison is not simply because of the repeat factor, but because of how perfectly the starting five was built to complement each other.  

In an age where you cannot count on NBA caliber players to stick around more than one or two seasons, college coaches are forced to mix and match and put their five best players on the floor and disregard any notions of position.  The pieces came together flawlessly for Donovan, from the Tyus Edney-Taurean Green, to the Jerrod Hasse-Lee Humphrey, the Stacey Augmon-Corey Brewer, the Sean May-Joakim Noah, to the Carlos Boozer-Al Horford, even the Chris Wilcox-Chris Richard.

It is extremely difficult not to enjoy the style and personality of this Florida team.  

I haven?t played pick-ups games in almost a year, but watching Corey Brewer?s pure enjoyment of the game as he glides around, celebrates after showstopper dunks and talks to anyone within earshot is infectious.

While I?m sure the dream of a threepeat is a tempting thought to Brewer, Horford and Noah right now, it simply cannot and will not happen.  The allure of being lottery picks is too compelling to some and the risk of being exposed even further is too frightening to the other.