- The No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament showed why they have been the class of college basketball all season. All four number ones are in the Final Four.
- It’s the first time in 16 years that all four No. 1’s have made it to the Final Four. It’s just the second time since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
- Auburn will play Florida in the first game on Saturday, April 5, at 6:09 p.m. EST, followed by Duke and Houston.
Full Story
March Madness was anything but “madness” this year. For only the second time since the NCAA tournament field went to 64 teams in 1985, all four number-one seeds are in the Final Four.
How good are the Auburn Tigers?
The last time it happened was 2008, so if they’re all equally good who has the advantage? How about the overall number one Auburn, who knocked off Alabama St., Creighton, Michigan and Michigan State to make it this far? They got a scare during Sunday’s win against the Spartans when star center Johni Broome left the game with an elbow injury. He returned to hit a three-pointer and lift the Tigers to the 70-64 win. Confident as ever, coach Bruce Pearl knows what’s next.
“I told our guys, right now we haven’t beaten a team yet that I thought was better than us, and that’s why we’re the overall number one seed, and now we’re going to the Final Four where there are four one seeds,” Pearl said. “And I think the four teams that [advanced are the] four best teams in the country. That doesn’t, obviously, always happen.”
Have the Tigers and Florida Gators already played this year?
The Tigers will play their SEC rival, Florida, in the first Final Four game. The Gators beat Norfolk St. UConn, Maryland and Texas Tech to reach this point and have won ten straight games overall. They also beat Auburn by nine points on the road on Feb. 8. On Saturday, March 29, they needed a come-from-behind effort to beat the Red Raiders, and Walter Clayton Jr. was the catalyst with two late three-pointers.
“A couple of shots went in, [the team] kind of turned around and looked at [their] bench like, ‘How?’ So honestly, nothing was going through my mind. My mind was kind of just blank. Thankful the shots went in, but you know we was locked in until the final buzzer sounded. So, my mind was blank, honestly.”
Who is the betting favorite to win it all?
On the other side of the bracket, the Duke Blue Devils have been dominant all season. Despite star freshman Cooper Flagg’s ankle injury in the ACC tournament, they have not missed a beat. They’ve beat Mount St. Mary’s, Baylor, Arizona and Alabama en route to their 18th Final Four appearance. Their defense is as dominant as their offensive game, making them the favorites to win the title, according to most sportsbooks.
“To hold them to 65 points is incredible, you know, watching them play the other night, you know, they score 113 points, 25 threes,” Head coach Jon Scheyer said. “I think the biggest thing for us was not to take the bait of getting so spread out. You know, three guys, Youngblood, Holloway and Sears, had 21 of the 25 threes, and so for us still, we want to use our length and size, and these guys did an incredible job.”
How will Houston win a national championship?
And speaking of defense, Houston has been the best in the country in that category all season, leading the NCAA in the fewest points allowed per game. They shut down SIU-Edwardsville, Gonzaga, Purdue and Tennessee to make it to the Final Four for the second time in four seasons. The team also owns the nation’s longest winning streak at 17 games by using that defense. They held the Vols to 15 first-half points, the fewest in an Elite Eight game in 46 years.
“I think we’ve won 30 plus games five times, but this is the first time we’ve won 34 games, and I’m glad this team did it. The maturity level of our older guys has been good for our young guys,” Head coach Kelvin Sampson said.
Only two more wins to a national championship for Kelvin Sampson and the rest of the Final Four. The first game is Florida and Auburn in San Antonio, Texas, and it tips off at 6:09 EST, followed by Duke and Houston.