The Athletic has in-depth protection of the 2025 Males’s Remaining 4.
The lads’s NCAA Match began with 68 groups and loads of March Insanity goals.
Three weeks and 66 video games later, we’re set for Monday’s nationwide championship recreation, the place the enjoyable will come to its conclusion as Florida and Houston meet in San Antonio.
It’s been an fascinating and weird match, one notably quick on Cinderellas and decidedly heavy on big-conference dominance. All 4 No. 1 seeds reached the Remaining 4, and now we’ll have a title recreation that includes two of them, plus a pleasant number of future NBA stars.
It’s the SEC vs. the Huge 12. It’s a battle between a younger, up-and-coming coach and a well-traveled veteran who may need his finest crew ever. And it’s a matchup of groups loaded with depth and star energy.
So far as betting odds go, Florida is an early 1.5-point favourite, per BetMGM.
Florida-Houston will air Monday at 8:50 p.m. ET on CBS.
In the event you’re new to the insanity, right here is an outline of the final two groups standing.
Florida (35-4)
The Gators will probably be trying to safe their third nationwide championship, their first since Billy Donovan guided Florida to back-to-back championships in 2006 and 2007.
Florida acquired right here by topping Auburn 79-73 in a decent, hard-fought Remaining 4 matchup that included 15 lead modifications and 10 ties. Star guard Walter Clayton Jr. dropped a career-high 34 factors to guide the Gators, changing into simply the fifteenth participant within the fashionable period (1984-85) to attain 30 or extra in a males’s Remaining 4 recreation. He’s the one Florida participant on that listing.
Florida trailed Auburn, the highest general seed within the match, by 8 factors at halftime earlier than elevating its recreation within the second half, identical to it did in opposition to Texas Tech within the Elite Eight and vs. UConn within the second spherical.
Clayton scored 20 of his 34 factors within the second half — together with a three-point play with 93 seconds left that gave Florida a vital six-point cushion.
That is coach Todd Golden’s first look within the championship recreation, and it is available in simply his third season main this system.
The Gators are on an 11-game profitable streak, profitable the SEC convention match after which carrying that momentum via the Huge Dance. Florida is undefeated exterior of SEC play, having solely misplaced to convention rivals Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri.
Florida has a deep roster, having entered the Remaining 4 with 5 gamers averaging at the least 9.8 factors per recreation. However Clayton has been the Gators’ go-to man late on this match. Earlier than his enormous Remaining 4 recreation, the 6-foot-3 senior scored 30 factors — 8 of them within the ultimate 107 seconds — in a win over Texas Tech within the Elite Eight. It’s no shock that he has drawn comparisons to NBA star Steph Curry.
Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. is the primary participant since Larry Chook with back-to-back 30-point video games within the Elite Eight and nationwide semifinal.
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— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 6, 2025
Houston (35-4)
Houston is showing within the nationwide championship recreation for the third time, although the Cougars are nonetheless looking for their first title. Houston’s different two appearances got here in 1983 and 1984, when it misplaced to NC State and Georgetown, respectively. Hakeem Olajuwon performed on each of these groups, and Clyde Drexler performed alongside Olajuwon on the 1983 squad.
Houston acquired right here by taking out Duke with a dramatic late comeback within the Remaining 4. The Blue Devils led 64-55 with 3:04 remaining, however the Cougars held Duke to 3 factors — all on free throws — from there as they put collectively a livid rally and got here away with a 70-67 victory. L.J. Cryer, a switch from Baylor, led Houston with 26 factors whereas capturing 6-for-9 from 3-point vary. Duke, which missed eight of its final 9 photographs, was led by star freshman Cooper Flagg. He topped all scorers with 27 factors however was held to 8-for-19 capturing from the sector.
Led by coach Kelvin Sampson, the Huge 12 Convention champions are identified for his or her protection, main the nation by permitting simply 58.3 factors per recreation. However this model of the Cougars can even fill it up, due to a flexible roster that has 4 gamers who common double figures in scoring.
Earlier than dealing with Duke, Houston had it robust within the Midwest area, having to knock off No. 2-seeded Tennessee (69-50), No. 4-seeded Purdue (62-60), No. 8-seeded Gonzaga (81-76) and No. 16-seeded SIU Edwardsville (78-40).
Houston has misplaced solely as soon as for the reason that begin of December, an time beyond regulation loss to Texas Tech on Feb. 1. Sampson has been to the Remaining 4 thrice, however that is his first go to to the championship recreation.
(Picture: Jamie Squire / Getty Photographs)