Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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March 31, 2007

US Men's College Basketball Final Four Set to Tip Off
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=16DFC43:A6F02AD83191E1607623F6BBBD9CF2CF9574F7DCC14957C0 Games are being
played at Georgia Dome stadium in southeast city of Atlanta The U.S.
men's national college basketball Final Four is set to tip off
Saturday at the Georgia Dome stadium in the southeast city of Atlanta.
VOA Sports Editor Parke Brewer is there and has a preview.

Top-ranked Ohio State will face Georgetown University, located in
Washington, D.C., in the first semifinal game. These teams also met in
last year's tournament.







Georgetown coacn John Thompson III celebrates after defeating North
Carolina 96-84 during an NCAA East Regional basketball game, 25 Mar
2007Georgetown scored an upset victory in that second round contest
and is hoping to repeat that success, but coach John Thompson the
third says there is no comparison because of the new freshman
starters.

"It's two totally different teams, their team as well as our team. So
you look at that game because you know you want to look at how they
approach things, how we approach things, and you throw it (last year's
match-up) out. You just start to look and prepare with the teams
they've had (played) this year. They are significantly different, as
are we," he said.

Ohio State brings a 21-game winning streak and the Associated Press
national number-one ranking into the game against Georgetown.







Ohio State's Greg Oden, center, tries to block the shot of Tennessee's
Ramar Smith (12) as Dane Bradshaw, top, watches during their NCAA
South Regional semifinal, 22 Mar 2007With defending champion Florida
and last year's runner-up UCLA playing in the other semifinal, Ohio
State Coach Thad Matta said the fans should be in for a great night of
basketball. "We're very excited for our players, for Ohio State to be
part of the Final Four. I think we've got what I think is probably one
of the greatest Final Fours as far as the players and the teams
involved. And we have a tremendous match-up ahead of us with
Georgetown," he said.

In the second semifinal, UCLA hopes to find a way to defeat a Florida
team that has all five starting players back from last year's
champions. And UCLA coach Ben Howland acknowledged his players face a
difficult task.

"This is an incredible team. This is one of the great basketball teams
in college basketball history. You have to give it (highest praise) to
them. They would be the first team to win back-to-back championships
since the Duke (University of North Carolina) teams in the early 90's
(1991-92). So we know we're facing a very, very daunting challenge,"
he said.

But Florida coach Billy Donovan knows it won't be easy. "People want
to talk about the repeating part of it. But you've got to get to
Monday first. So to me, I don't even really think about the repeating
as much as I really think about trying to play the best game we can to
the very best of our ability against a terrific UCLA team. This game's
just about playing UCLA to get the opportunity to play for it all," he
said.

And the winners of Saturday night's games will meet for it all in the
national championship here on Monday night.