big joe

By John Akers

FINAL FOUR Final Four
Bracket
And the winner is... Florida

Florida vs. George Mason
Here's that SEC-CAA semifinal that everyone was anticipating. Yeah, right.

The Patriots have made the nation believers in miracles again. Remember two weeks ago, when some were questioning the Selection Committee's decision to let George Mason in the tournament ahead of Hofstra? No one gets past Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut without having plenty of game.

But there has to be an end of the road, doesn't there? And at the end of that road will be Joakim Noah, who will be there to send Mason home.

Final: Florida 69, George Mason 60


LSU vs UCLA
Here's that SEC-Pac-10 semifinal that everyone was anticipating. Yup.

You won't, however, find any teams more athletic than the Tigers or tougher than the Bruins – no matter how hard you go looking in the Big East, Big Ten or ACC. The Bruins can take the Tigers at the guard position, with sophomores Jordan Farmar and Arron Afflalo.

The Tigers, however, will be all over them inside with Glen "Big Baby" Davis, their 310-pound ballerina, and freakish freshman Tyrus Thomas.

Final: LSU 60, UCLA 59


CHAMPIONSHIP

LSU vs. Florida
Here's that all-SEC final that everyone was anticipating. Uh-huh.

Wasn't it just a year ago that everyone was lamenting the decline of this league, which lost so many underclassmen to the NBA draft? And these were two of the teams that were seemingly hit the hardest, with LSU losing Brandon Bass, last season's MVP of the SEC, to the New Orleans Hornets, and Florida losing Matt Walsh and Anthony Roberson (both went undrafted).

Guess what? Both teams had more junk in their trunk. Even the Tigers didn't know what they had in Thomas. And the Gators' sophomores were a pretty well-kept secret, too.

Florida 70, LSU 69