I know we are still months away from the beginning of college football, but this video is something that just has to get you pumped up. How sweet would it be to live in a room like this one? And how long did this take to do? Awesome.

We’re always on the lookout for awkward sports reporters. This one comes to us from Parlayer, which has become a goldmine for great YouTube videos. Steve Brown, reporting live in the streets of Columbus during Ohio State-Michigan, is clearly annoyed. When a drunk Ohio State fan invades his camera space, she gets shoulder-barged by Brown. You have to love CNN’s “better than you” attitude, as they show their hatred of drunk sports fans. Here’s an idea: Don’t report from the streets of a college town during the biggest game of the year.

It turns out college basketball’s “one and done” rule was just that for Greg Oden. After leading Ohio State to the National Championship Game as a freshman, the big center is packing his bags and declaring for the NBA Draft. He joins fellow phenom Kevin Durant, who already announced his intentions earlier this week.

“He’s the kind of kid that, even though he’ll have a lot of money, he needs to do more than just basketball,” Greg Oden Sr. said. “They had an exciting season, but why take the chance on him getting hurt?”

I’d prefer if “little” Greg was making the first statement about this issue because you’d hate to see this decision get made by his parents and not him. But Oden Sr. is exactly right. Oden’s offensive game may need some tweaks but he’s still a shoe-in for millions of dollars as a 19 year old. No matter how fun college basketball might be, you’d be foolish to pass this up.

Oden’s year at Ohio State helped him immensely. He developed more of a reliance on his weaker left hand, he matured as the season progressed, and he was simply dominant in the Final Four, scoring 25 points in the National Championship Game, despite being guarded by several different NBA Draft Lottery picks. Horford? Noah? It was Oden that was the dominant force on April 2.

It’s hard to live up to the hype that Oden received in Columbus but he did just that, leading Ohio State all the way to the championship game. But how good will Oden be in the NBA? Consider the fact that he’s been compared to two guys named Shaquille O’Neal and David Robinson. That’s some nice company. Look for Oden’s inside presence to greatly improve whatever team he ends up with.

Considering you’ll hear the word “rematch” about 100 times over the next 30 hours so, I thought I’d post a video of January’s BCS Championship Game between guess who! Ohio State and Florida. It’s the first time there’s ever been the same two teams in both the college basketball and college football championship game. If basketball goes anything like football, there’s definitely going to be some car burning in Columbus. Actually, they’ll probably burn cars regardless.

So much for Thad Matta’s team being too young to make serious noise in this year’s NCAA Tournament. So much for Memphis’ Joey Dorsey thinking he had a chance against Greg Oden. Ohio State’s 92-76 win may have been closer than the score indicated but one thing is clear. The better team won. Ohio State’s perfect mix of leadership and youth was obvious, as they reached the Final Four for the first time since 1999.

This week’s Dumbass Award goes to Joey Dorsey. On Friday, Dorsey did something you shouldn’t do: open your mouth to a far superior player. Dorsey said that he was “Goliath” and that Oden would be “David”. He responded by fouling out and going scoreless, not to mention getting punked inside by Oden all day. Dorsey felt he had the experience over Oden but even though he’s a junior, he was no match for the 37 year old freshman.

Oden’s impact was obvious. Some may argue that Ohio State’s offense runs smoother without Oden. While that might be the case, they certainly aren’t the total package without #20. Oden’s presence was felt constantly. Despite playing through some foul trouble, he scored 17 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. But more importantly, he dictated the tempo of the entire game. Memphis burned through players in an effort to keep a fresh body on Oden. They committed 29 fouls, including having two players foul out. As a result, the Buckeyes were outscore Memphis by 21 at the free throw line.

Then there’s his supporting cast. Senior Ron Lewis, the biggest reason this team even got by Xavier, scored a team-high 22 points. He’s nearly doubled his scoring output in the NCAA Tournament, averaging 22 points a game in the tourney compared to about 12 during the regular season. Oden’s longtime teammate Mike Conley Jr. was also huge, scoring 19 more. Together, these two went 19-20 from the free throw line. This team appears to be coming together at the perfect time. Most all, they’re proving their youth wouldn’t be a factor in this tournament.

Earlier today, I challenged (no, I begged) the NCAA Tournament to start getting interesting. And in just one game, the tourney has done just that. It wasn’t an upset but it was one hell of a finish between #1 Ohio State and #9 Xavier. Ohio State prevailed 78-71 in overtime after going on a 12-3 run to end regulation.

After Oden fouled out following a barbaric shove on a Xavier player, the Buckeyes looked screwed. I suppose Ohio State caught a break that Oden wasn’t called for a flagrant foul, it certainly could have warranted it. But the officials did the right thing and didn’t make the ending anti-climatic.

Xavier went to the line with a chance to ice the game. But in true March Madness fashion, they hit just one of two and gave Ohio State a chance to tie. What happened next is one of those plays that defines March Madness. Ron Lewis hit a three pointer with just two seconds left, sending the game into overtime. Lewis was money all day, scoring 27 points on 8-13 shooting, including 4-5 from downtown. Or, as Gus Johnson would put it, “from the parking lot.”

After Lewis’ game-tying three, Oden’s high school teammate, Mike Conley Jr., took over. Conley Jr. scored 11 points in overtime and for the time being, kept millions of brackets alive. Despite spending a couple hours wearing out the story of friendship between Ohio State’s Thad Matta and Xavier’s Sean Miller, CBS’ Gus Johnson was in top form. He was out of breath with about five minutes left and rather than taking a deep breath, he decided to just keep yelling.