The Florida Gators may have had the first starting five to ever repeat as national champions, but they were not the biggest story in Monday night’s NCAA Final Four championship. That honor belonged to freshman phenom Greg Oden of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Oden single-handedly kept the Buckeyes in contention in his final game of the season, and maybe his collegiate career. He was simply unstoppable when the OSU guards got him the ball down on the block en route to a game-high 25 points with 12 rebounds in (what was his most important stat) 38 minutes.

Oden’s performance showed that the only thing that slowed him down since his return from a wrist injury was foul trouble. In his previous game against Georgetown, Oden had 13 points and nine rebounds in a mere 20 foul-plagued minutes.

But against the Gators’ NCAA-best frontline, Oden finally shed the shackles that had him riding the pine throughout the regular season and the NCAA Tournament and allowed him to remain aggressive around the rim and make plays like the two-handed, glass-pinning block on Corey Brewer that sent the game’s Most Outstanding Player to the floor with his rejected shot.

Although Oden solidified his position at the top of this years NBA draft class (if he leaves), his performance was not enough to cement Ohio State as a champion amid the Buckeyes’ shooting wows from the perimeter.

OSU was four for 23 from behind the three-point arc in the game. Florida’s Lee Humphrey matched that himself with four threes in just seven attempts. Taurean Green and Corey Brewer each added three treys of their own, as the Gators shot 10-18 from distance.

But the biggest difference-maker for Florida unsurprisingly came from one of their forwards. Not last year’s Most Outstanding Player Joakim Noah, but sidekick Al Horford. Horford dropped in 18 points (showing shades of Rasheed Wallace hitting 17 foot jumpers) and matched Oden with 12 rebounds.

Noah, on the other hand, transformed from carriage back to pumpkin in his second championship. Scoring only one field goal and grabbing a meager three rebounds, Noah looked more like the next DeSagana Diop rather than an up-and-coming game-changer like Ben Wallace. Even against Ohio State’s worst starter, Ivan Harris, Noah failed to put up numbers worthy of a lottery draft pick.

Instead, Noah left the big dance with his eight points and his ridiculous “we’re gonna do it right!” quote. Sure he may be taking the championship hardware with him for a second straight year, but Oden is leaving the dance with something more: Respect.