Florida Gators make NCAA history with back-to-back wins

The Florida Gators beat out the Ohio State Buckeyes last night to win the NCAA Men’s Championship with a final score of 75-84. This was a history-making win for the Gators, who are the first team ever to win two years in a row with the exact same starting line-up. They are also the first repeat champions since 1991-92 when Duke had back-to-back wins.

Ohio State’s 7-foot tall freshman, Greg Oden, and Florida’s 6-foot-9 junior, Corey Brewer, were named the most outstanding players of the game with 25 points and 12 rebounds for Oden and 13 points, 8 rebounds for Brewer. The only player to foul out was Florida senior Chris Richard, who left the court smiling after making 22 of his 26 shots during the tournament, 8 of those made during tonight’s game.

While the Buckeyes gave the Gators a run for their money, it was obvious for almost the entire game that Florida would take the win. And it’s no surprise -- the experts were calling for a Florida win since the teams were locked in after the Final Four this weekend, and they are statistically the better team, and their starting lineup all average double-digit points scored per game. Ohio simply couldn’t keep up -- their defense lacked more than it had in previous games during the tournament, and as always, their shooting was nothing compared to that of the Gators.

The Gators also made another mark on history by beating out the Buckeyes in the championships of college’s most popular sports -- men’s hoops and football -- in the same year.