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In an earlier article, I had my final four picks being Texas A&M, UCLA, Florida, and Ohio State, in no particular order of preference. In going with Ohio State and Texas A&M in my personal final four, they were really more of the "cinderella" picks for me. The reason for that is that I feel that UCLA and Florida are still a notch above the rest of the country, in terms of the level that they are capable of playing at.

I don't have the Aggies making the finals because I worry about where the offense would come from in a big game against other teams. When the game is a close, high-scoring affair I feel that the team, as a whole, is too quick to defer to Acie Law IV, who is more than capable of carrying the load, but I'm not sure that he can do that if asked to do so too many times in the tournament. A great defense is one of the arguments for the Aggies to make it all the way to the championship game, but even UCLA wasn't able to win on that and they had more offensive weapons last year than A&M now and this year as well, even without Jordan Farmar.

Ohio State is too young, plain and simple. Their two leading players Conley Jr. and Oden, for all their talent, are still only freshman. They only earned a split with Wisconsin in conference play, unable to beat them on the road, which is a team that has many glaring weaknesses and isn't quite as good as their record would appear. Championships are usually won by teams with veteran leadership, something Ohio State doesn't have.

With all that in mind, I'm actually expecting to see a rematch of last year's finals. The field is too wide open, with too many teams hoping to try and make deep tournament runs with youth and untested leadership, with too many of the elite mid-majors capable of spoiling the chances of larger and more established programs.

UCLA is likely to wrap up the #1 seed in the entire tournament and for good reason. They still have a stingy defense and, with the recent re-entry of Collison back in the lineup after an injury, their offense is firing on all cylinders. Arron Afflalo is one of the best scorers in the nation and the supporting cast of the likes of Shipp, Roll, Mbah a Moute, and Mata solidify the scoring and interior defense. Their is a glaring hole in their offense, a lack of interior scoring, but the Bruins were able to make their Finals run last year without it and there shouldn't be much to worry about this year either.

Florida has slipped as of late but they still have the best frontcourt in college basketball, in Noah and Horford. These two guys are able to dominate both ends of the floor and complement each other well and are two of the best post passers in the nation. Green, Brewer, and Humphries have all hit slumps at different points this year, but look for them to bounce back and have their best ready for the tournament. Florida has the most experience of any team in the tournament and a great motivator in coach Billy Donovan. The fact that they may not get a one seed may actually help them, as far as motivation and an easier path to the Finals, in achieving their goal.

In the end, I hate to say it but I still can't see any team overtaking Florida when they are at the top of their game, which they will be come tourney time. The Bruins will finally pay for not being able to score inside as Horford and Noah once again shine and lead Florida to another victory, a closer one, but a victory nonetheless. Final score: Florida 65, UCLA 60.

Learn more about this author, Robert Solis.
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