Greg Oden: College Basketball's Most Important Player?

This week's House Meeting asks who are the most important players in this college basketball season. Ohio State center Greg Oden has to be at or near the top of that list.

No one seems to dispute that Oden is the most talented player in college basketball, but that doesn't make him the best. In fact, it's another freshman, Texas's Kevin Durant, who leads the way in the player of the year race. Durant loves nothing more than to take over a game, but when watching Oden, you get the sense that he'd rather be a complementary player than a star -- he seems to like defense more than offense, blocking shots more than taking shots, rebounding more than scoring. Oden is hitting an outstanding 63.7 percent of his field goals, but he takes fewer than 10 shots a game.

And that's what makes Oden so important for the next two months. As his right wrist continues to heal, Oden could become an even better player than he already has been. But will he rise to the level of truly dominant? If Oden decides to take over games in March, it's entirely possible that Ohio State could win the National Championship. But if he continues to defer to his teammates, he'll continue to be the most talented player but not the best.