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NIT SEMIFINALS
Buckeyes could meet Gators in final
> Would you like to see OSU vs. Florida in the NIT title game?
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
NEW YORK — Ohio State had just lost three straight games in mid-January when Thad Matta got on the phone with Florida coach Billy Donovan, looking for some insight into how to handle a young team or some encouraging words from a close colleague.
"He started laughing and said, 'You think you've got problems?' " Matta recalled Monday, March 31.
Extras
If the two-time defending national champion Gators can beat Massachusetts and the Buckeyes get past Mississippi in the NIT semifinals tonight, they'll play a rematch of last year's title game Thursday at Madison Square Garden.
"If you take the amount of players in the national championship last year that are now in NBA uniforms ... I'm not surprised where we're at," said Donovan, putting the postseason in perspective.
The youthful Gators started 18-3 and had everybody momentarily forgetting first-round picks Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah, and second-round selections Taurean Green and Chris Richard. And it's not what the Buckeyes, without departed draft picks Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook, were expecting when they beat Michigan State in their regular-season finale.
But Florida wilted down the stretch and Ohio State fell to the Spartans in the Big Ten tournament, and for the first time since 1980 the two finalists from the previous year were left out of the NCAA field.
Ohio State (22-13) hasn't been tested in the NIT, coasting past UNC-Asheville, California and Dayton to reach New York.
The Gators (24-11), the first defending champions to miss the tournament since 1989, also have breezed through the bracket. Easy home wins over San Diego State and Creighton set up a quarterfinal at Arizona State, where Florida shot a season-high 60.5 percent from the floor in toppling the top-seeded Sun Devils.
Massachusetts (24-10) was among the last teams left hanging on Selection Sunday, but quickly regrouped to beat Stephen F. Austin in the NIT's opening round. The Minutemen then showed some perseverance behind coach Travis Ford, rallying from 12 down with 8½ minutes left to beat Akron and 22 down with 14:34 left to beat Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.
Ole Miss (24-10) reached the NIT semifinals by beating UC-Santa Barbara and fending off Nebraska in overtime, then upset Virginia Tech.
"This is a tremendous experience for our kids," Rebels coach Andy Kennedy said. "I played in this event in 1989 and still have very fond memories of playing in the Garden and the experience it was, and I'm hopeful our guys are creating the same lasting memories."
Who: Massachusetts (24-10) vs. Florida (24-11)
When: 7 p.m.
Radio: None
TV: ESPN2
Who: Mississippi (24-10) vs. Ohio State (22-13)
When: 9 p.m.
Radio: WING-AM (1410)
TV: ESPN2
Comments
By Diane
April 1, 2008 8:35 PM | Link to this
As a Gator fan from Florida AND a BUCKEYE, I would love to see the match-up, but it’s a poor re-simulation of the real match-up in football, and the NIT is just the poor man’s leftovers from the bigger dance. Still, it would at least make it more interesting than watching the flood waters recede.
By MANVAN32
April 1, 2008 4:57 PM | Link to this
YEAH IT WOULD BE NICE. BUT I WANT A WIN ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD. GO BUCKS SEND SEND YOUR SENIORS. OUT ON A WIN
By END USER
April 1, 2008 3:56 PM | Link to this
Come On Ohio citizens. Wouldn’t you like to see the Buckeyes win. GO BUCKS O-H-I-O
By David Knoll
April 1, 2008 1:11 PM | Link to this
What’s the NIT?
By minton
April 1, 2008 10:54 AM | Link to this
Guessing Mark is a bitter UD fan.
By Mark
April 1, 2008 10:31 AM | Link to this
Nope…I would like to see both of them lose…the seeding in the NIT is a joke!
By jeffl
April 1, 2008 8:45 AM | Link to this
An hour from Columbus, sister is in Hall Of Fame for Gators…but I still would love to see both teams get beat.
I can’t stand..Whats A Matta, and Gators think they are the sh**. Both teams are full of themselves
Go U Mass!!!
By Funk Master Fred
April 1, 2008 8:07 AM | Link to this
Yeah, a win in the NIT will really shut Gator Nation up…
I want that to happen as much as you, but NIT vs two real championships is not even close. I hate the Gators as much as you, but its going to take a football win or wins to get over the last couple years.
By Kevin
April 1, 2008 8:01 AM | Link to this
It would be fitting justice if OSU could be given the opportunity to avenge the recent losses to the Gators. As an ex-pat Buckeye living in Gator land it would make me happy to see the Gator Nation shut the H$$$ up