ATLANTA -- Forty minutes of basketball later, I still have no idea if Ohio State is better than Georgetown.

I know what the scoreboard says: Ohio State 67, Georgetown 60.

But I don't know that Ohio State is seven points better, or any better, than Georgetown. Neither do you. Nobody knows, because this game was taken from us by the people who were entrusted with controlling the action but instead reduced both teams -- and therefore this national semifinal -- to chaos.

The officials killed this Final Four game. Completely killed it.

Wouldn't it be great to see Greg Oden and Roy Hibbert square off? What? We already did? (AP)

Eighteen seconds in, a zebra called a touch foul on Georgetown center Roy Hibbert.

Fifty seconds in, another zebra called a bizarre illegal screen on Ohio State center Greg Oden. Less than two minutes later, the third zebra rang up Oden's second foul. This time Oden was deemed to have charged into Georgetown's Jeff Green, who flopped like a beached basking shark.

Zebras are stupid, stupid animals, you know.

Oden's not stupid. He's a smart, polite, humble kid who doesn't complain and afterward accepted blame for "being excited." But here's what he said as he walked past stunned OSU coach Thad Matta: "Bull----, man."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

The game was less than three minutes old and Oden was done for the first half while Hibbert was reduced to playing scared, knowing he was one soft foul -- or one invented foul -- from being done for the half himself. Hibbert made it to the half's 6:48 mark before drawing his second foul, creating the game the officials apparently wanted to see:

Ohio State (minus its first team All-American) vs. Georgetown (minus the biggest player in college basketball).

What are the officials' names? Find them yourself. They disgust me, and typing their names into my computer might just kill my Norton Anti-Vomit program. Although I will say this: When the officials walked onto the floor during pregame warm-ups and I spotted the lead guy, I shuddered. Literally shuddered. Noted the guy's name on my pad, underlined it twice and next to his name wrote the words, Uh-oh. True story.

It's a testament to Oden and to Hibbert -- and validation for the premise of this column -- that they managed to affect this game as much as they did. In 20 minutes, Oden had 13 points and nine rebounds. In 24 minutes, Hibbert had 19 and six.

Imagine if they'd been able to play all game. And play with confidence.

Here's where you come to the officials' aid. You're going to tell me officials are supposed to set the tone in the opening minutes. Let any player get too physical, especially ones as big as Oden and Hibbert, and the action will become brutal. Oden fouled early. Hibbert fouled early. What are the referees to do -- ignore those early fouls?

Not a bad point. Pat yourself on the back. Now then, allow me to address your question:

What are the referees to do -- ignore those early fouls?

Absolutely.

My argument is so solid, I'll give the officials the benefit of the doubt on one point: They were fouls. All of them. Hibbert's attempted block of Oden's first shot with 19:42 left in the half ... Oden's illegal screen ... Oden's charge. O.J. Simpson didn't receive that much benefit of the doubt, but I'm giving it to the officials anyway. Fine. Those were fouls.

Let them go anyway. Especially that early in the game.

This isn't a November tournament in Puerto Rico. This is the Final Four, for God's sake. Allow the players to burn a little early fuel. Let them be nervous for a few minutes, as the officials in the second semifinal did when penetrating Florida forward Corey Brewer slammed into UCLA's Lorenzo Mata on the Gators' first possession, when the refs let it go. Good for those officials. Early in a game this big, let the players be rambunctious. Let them touch somebody without being called for it.

Especially these two players.

This isn't about the hype, although let's acknowledge that the hype was huge. The country was excited about this game for one reason: the battle of 7-foot centers. The Final Four hadn't seen a big-man battle as promising as this one in more than 20 years. Ohio State is OK without Greg Oden -- beating Xavier in overtime in the second round is an example -- but the point remains that Ohio State isn't Ohio State without Greg Oden. Same goes for Georgetown without Hibbert. Both teams revolve around their sun gods.

So in this specific game, with these specific players, the officials owed it absolutely to both teams -- and obliquely to me and you and everyone excited to watch -- to make sure Oden and Hibbert were given the chance to compete.

Saturday they had no chance. Ohio State moved on anyway because point guard Michael Conley Jr. is this season's version of Joakim Noah circa 2006, which is to say the most dominant player in the country despite being left off every major All-America team. Conley had 15 points and six assists, which in a low-scoring game like this one is the equivalent of 20 and 10. Even with Oden reduced to part-time work, Daequan Cook turning his seven first-half minutes into an atrocious NBA audition and regional hero Ron Lewis going 1-for-8 from the floor, Ohio State controlled the game. Conley is that good.

But is Ohio State that good compared to Georgetown? Who knows? On a day that officials limited both centers significantly in minutes and limited them totally in tenacity, I know Ohio State was seven points better than Georgetown.

But I'd love to see these teams do it again.

With another set of referees.