Like Gators in football, OSU's a longshot ... on paper

	Mike Conley Jr. and the Buckeyes opened up as five-point underdogs to the Gators. John W. McDonough/SI
	MAILBAG Submit a question or an opinion to Stewart. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

ATLANTA -- While I like to think I know a little something about the sport I cover, by no means would I ever claim to be the smartest guy in a room of 500 sportswriters.

So on Sunday afternoon, while attending press conferences previewing Monday night's national championship game, I enlisted the expertise of some of my most respected colleagues. I sent around a notebook asking for any suggestions they might have for a story I've been assigned to write on "How Ohio State will beat Florida."

Here are a few of the points they came up with:

All five Florida starters could break their legs.

Ted Valentine is not officiating the game.

Sorry ... I've got nothing.

Crazy, isn't it? On paper, Monday night's game is a matchup of two No. 1 seeds. Of the two, Ohio State is the one ranked No. 1 in the reigning AP and coaches polls. The Buckeyes (35-3) have a better record than the Gators (34-5), and Florida has lost three times since the last time Ohio State did on Jan. 9.

And yet, from my unscientific but highly thorough research, I can tell you the prevailing opinion here is that the Gators are huge, colossal favorites against the Buckeyes. Maybe it has something to do with that whole "defending national champions" thing. Or perhaps some people were mildly swayed by the way Florida so ruthlessly dispatched UCLA here Saturday night. And now that you mention it, the fact the Gators have already beaten Ohio State once this season by, oh, 26 points, may have crept into a few peoples' minds.

This isn't a sentiment shared solely by the writers covering the two teams, either. Try the Buckeyes' own head coach.

"I do feel like we're the underdog," Thad Matta said. "I understand why people would give us no shot in this game on paper."

Man. It's a wonder they're even bothering to play this thing.

In fact, Florida is viewed as being so absurdly superior that one New York reporter practically pounced on Buckeyes guard Ron Lewis during his turn at the podium upon noting that Lewis, unlike his teammates, had referred to the Gators as a "good" team rather than "great." Then, after Lewis declined the opportunity to change his word choice, the reporter made sure to ask Florida's players about his abominable slight.

"Oh my God! He said that?" replied a sarcastic Joakim Noah. "No! What a bad person."

But here was the funniest part about Sunday's festivities. When not being asked about the magnitude of Florida's imminent, historical accomplishment or being asked to compare the Gators to the greatest teams of all-time, participants from both sides found themselves another, popular story line: The one about that football game these two schools played in January. You probably remember it. Noah certainly does.