Photo by CBS Sports.

The NCAA March Madness Tournament is one of the largest annual sporting events in the United States. Every year for three weeks, basketball fans nationwide watch the 64 best teams in the nation face off in a single elimination tournament featuring drama, memories, game-winners, and most importantly, stunning upsets and underdogs. Typically, a few low–seeded teams go on remarkable runs to win multiple games, while the Final Four is usually a mix of higher-seeded teams. It is incredibly rare, however, that the Final Four is exactly what the press predicted, with all four number one seeds of the March Madness Tournament making the Final Four, as at least one of them would be bound to fall short in one of the first four rounds of the tournament. 

That would not be the case this year though, with the Florida Gators, Duke Blue Devils, Houston Cougars, and Auburn Tigers filling up the Final Four, all national powerhouses highly thought of. Opinions of this were mixed, with many missing the absence of a true underdog story, while others awaited thrilling games by exceedingly stacked teams to wrap this college basketball season up with a bang. “I was really hoping that there would be at least one lower seeded team since all of the famous underdog stories are what make March Madness so much fun to watch, but at least we can confidently say that we watched the genuinely greatest teams in the nation face off on Saturday,” explained Jayden Costa, a DHS junior and March Madness superfan.

On Saturday, April 5, 2025, the Florida Gators and Auburn Tigers would face off in the first semifinal at 6:00 pm in San Antonio, Texas on CBS. Both teams were at the very top of the conference they shared: the Southeast Conference (SEC). The Gators would go on to win the SEC championship against the Tigers, with a firm statement made. However, in Saturday’s game it was considered more as the real contest between the two powerhouses to see who was superior. 

Coming into the game, ESPN listed Florida as the three-point favorites to win but ironically had Auburn with a 58% chance of being victorious. It was safe to say this matchup was completely a toss-up. The Gators had a record of 35-3 and were ranked in total as third in the nation. Florida is led by All-American senior shooting guard Walter Clayton Jr., senior point guard Alijah Martin, and sophomore center Alex Condon. Florida’s March Madness run featured domination against Norfolk State before barely dodging a massive upset with a 77-75 win against UConn, and then blowing out Maryland before edging out an 84-79 victory against Texas Tech in the Elite Eight.

The Tigers were just below the Gators, pulling off a 32-5 record to be ranked fourth in the nation. Auburn starred All-American, senior power forward Johni Broome, freshman point guard Tahaad Pettiford, and senior shooting guard Miles Kelly. The Tigers had a March Madness run consisting of dominating wins against Alabama State, Creighton, and Michigan, before barely topping Michigan State 70-64 in the Elite Eight. However, many found these successes unconvincing. “I had Florida advancing to the championship because Walter Clayton Jr. had been going off all tournament long and they had an excellent team energy about winning and dominating all season long so I was not surprised at all when they beat Auburn,” admitted Costa.

Right from tipoff, both All-Americans were making plays for their teams, with Broome scoring six of Auburn’s first twelve points from put-back layups and free throws. Clayton would do his thing as well, knocking down two threes in the first four minutes to put Florida ahead 11-10. Soon, Tigers guard Chad Baker-Mazara made his statement by knocking down a triple, which would be retaliated by one from Martin for the Gators the next minute. Mazara would clap back with another three-pointer ten seconds later. Both teams traded buckets with a driving layup by Auburn forward Chaney Johnson giving the Tigers a 20-18 lead seven minutes into the game.

Both teams soon kicked it into gear defensively, with neither side being able to get to the basket. A decisive and-one layup by Alijah Martin sent the Gator crowd crazy after converting the up-and-under finish while aggressively fouled by Pettiford, to which Martin hit the free throw. Off the bench, Tiger guard Miles Kelly scored a layup and three-pointer on back-to-back possessions later on, followed by a tough euro step from Clayton shortly after, bringing the score to an Auburn lead by 29-27 with six minutes until half. Auburn finished the second half strong, with Broome, Pettiford, and guard Denver Jones now off the bench all being unstoppable down low from driving layups or rebounded tip-ins. Layups and free throws from Clayton and Richard were the only thing keeping the Gators afloat until halftime, as Auburn led 46-38 at the break.

Florida would strike back in the second half, with a deep triple from Clayton, followed by a three by Martin to be the equalizer, with both teams now at 49. Clayton and Broome traded layups, and another defensive struggle would ensue, with neither team scoring a field goal for the next five minutes in favor of free throws, fouls, turnovers, and fast-break opportunities not taken advantage of. Another three once again from Clayton would snap the deadlock to Florida now only trailing 55-54 eight minutes into the second half. Seconds later though, a perfectly executed alley-oop from Jones to Tigers center Dylan Cardwell sent the Auburn bench into pandemonia.

A few minutes later, Martin threw down a ferocious two-hand slam to give Florida a 59-57 lead with ten minutes remaining. Both teams would defend inside and outside flawlessly once again, with teams struggling just to get a shot off. Mazara broke the struggle on a three-pointer assisted by a no-look pass from Pettiford to give Auburn its lead back. After dunks from Cardwell and Martin, Florida led 66-63. The next few minutes Clayton submitted his legacy as a Gator forever. He nailed various jumpers and executed the fast-break with eight unanswered points, many off turnovers and horrible passes by the Tigers, before assisting a bucket by forward Thomas Haugh. This dagger put Florida ahead 76-68 with a minute to go, as Gator fans everywhere rejoiced.

“I got three words for you: Walter Clayton Jr,” exclaimed Costa when asked about the reason for the Gator victory. At this point, there was nothing the Tigers would do in such little time, and Florida punched their ticket to the championship with a final score of 79-73. As for Clayton, he would finish with 34 points, a performance of a lifetime for the superstar. “Auburn played a very good game but they simply were too sloppy and made lots of little errors that they could not afford to make against a great team like Florida that cost them the game,” Costa added.

The court would swiftly have to be cleared off after the game, as the second Final Four game would soon be underway between the Houston Cougars and Duke Blue Devils. They faced off at 9:00 pm on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at the very same value in San Antonio as the previous semifinal. Unlike the previous matchup however, Houston and Duke had not played each other all season, both handedly winning their respective conferences, coming into the biggest game of their seasons as two of the best teams in the nation, completely raw and unsure of what to expect.

As excitement for this game ran rampant, ESPN gave the Blue Devils their five point favorite with a 54% chance of having a spot in the national championship. It was clear that this would be a heavyweight matchup for the ages. Duke had a record of 34-4 and were ranked as the number one team in the nation. The Blue Devils are led by NCAA Men’s Basketball Player of the Year and All-American, freshman power forward Cooper Flagg, junior point guard Tyrese Proctor, and freshman shooting guard Kon Knueppel. Duke’s journey across March Madness involved blowout wins against St. Mary’s and Baylor, until they dodged a massive upset from Arizona with a 100-93 victory in the Sweet Sixteen, followed by blowing out Alabama in the Elite Eight. 

Right below the Blue Devils were the Cougars, entering the game with a record of 35-3 while ranked at second nationwide. Houston featured superstar senior point guard L.J. Cryer, junior shooting guard Emanuel Sharp, and senior power forward J’Wan Roberts. The Cougars’ journey over the course of March Madness was hard fought, with a blowout win against SIUE, followed by 81-76 and 62-60 victories in the following two rounds against Gonzaga and Purdue. Houston would find itself in a 69-50 breakout win against Tennessee in the Elite Eight. Regardless, many still had full confidence in the favored Duke squad. “I had Duke winning it all so of course I had them over Houston and I was really surprised when they lost because of how dominant they were over the course of the game until the last eight minutes or so,” Costa assured.

Both teams came off to a very slow start offensively once the game began. Seconds after tipoff, Flagg swatted a mid-range jumper from Roberts out-of-bounds, making a huge statement the Blue Devils could not get enough of. The first four minutes would be chaotic, filled with missed shots, bad passes, and overly aggressive defense by both teams as the game was flying out of hand. Only a triple from Cryer and free throws from Knueppel would go through the net as the Cougars took an early 3-2 lead. The Duke offense quickly began to pull itself together, with three-pointers from Knueppel and Flagg, followed by a short jumper by Proctor and a flashy one-hand slam from Flagg again giving the Blue Devils a 12-8 lead eight minutes into the game.

Duke did not lay off, playing flawless man-to-man defense on the perimeter and down on the block, while Knueppel caught Houston sleeping on a couple backdoor layups to extend their lead to 18-9. Everything seemed to be going just as planned. After scores from Roberts and Sharp to keep the Cougars in the game, Flagg would throw a perfect alley-oop pass to Duke center Khaman Maluach, succeeding by a Knueppel three. The only field goal the Cougars found was a dunk from Roberts. The Blue Devils led 26-15 with four minutes until half, and it looked like Houston was in for a long game. Their only saving grace were two triples nailed by Cryer before halftime and another three-pointer drilled by off the bench guard Milos Uzan in the last minute of the half. This aided Houston in only trailing to Duke by a feasible 34-28 deficit at the break.

Regardless of who anyone was cheering for or expecting to win, it was a guarantee that the Cougars would not go down without giving absolutely everything they had. After Flagg dribbled through two Houston defenders for an aggressive fast-break layup, Cryer would come back swinging, nailing a deep three-pointer. After a couple buckets by Blue Devils guard Sion James, Cryer struck again from behind the arc. Flagg soon made his mark though, scoring on the next three possessions, including a three-pointer assisted by Proctor. Knueppel would drill another triple and throw a perfect outlet pass to James for a layup. This high scoring run brought Duke ahead 52-42, their biggest lead of the game, seven minutes into the second half.

Flagg later got sent to the free throw line and converted all four shots, with a desperate triple by Sharp keeping Houston from getting run over. With eight minutes left, the Blue Devils led the Cougars 59-45. Everyone thought the game was over as Duke could not be stopped and Houston simply could not seem to keep up. The Blue Devils were celebrating very early, fostering potentially their biggest mistake in program history. Roberts would kick the ball out for a very deep three-pointer by Cryer, and little did the fans know, but this would be the start of a legendary comeback. In some of the best defense ever witnessed in college basketball history, Houston would hold Duke to only a single field goal in the last ten minutes of the game. The Blue Devils offense turned to a stand still, constantly turning the ball over and missing terribly.

This immaculate defense gave the Cougars offense a chance to strike. Cryer and Roberts would both hit jumpers, but Duke endured. After free throws from Proctor and one more off the dribble three-pointer from Flagg, the Blue Devils led 64-55, and there were three minutes left. Houston had to hurry, and the man to make it happen for them would be Emanuel Sharp, who had a layup and four straight free throws from Duke’s now crumbling defense panicking and resorting to unintelligent fouls. With 33 seconds left, Sharp threw up a prayer, the biggest shot of his life. It was a pump fake, step-back triple from way beyond the arc, and would hit nothing but net.

The Cougars now trailed just 67-64. Houston had to foul immediately, and Proctor missed the one-and-one opportunity at the free throw line. Cougar forward Joseph Tugler scored off a tip-in from a missed triple by Cryer. After a Sion James turnover, Houston had the ball with the chance to pull off a historic comeback. A loose ball foul by Flagg under the rim sent J’Wan Roberts to the free throw line. The latter would sink both with nineteen seconds to go. The Cougars now led 68-67, and their crowd was erupting. “Houston simply just never gave up. They just kept fighting and persevered all game long and made excellent plays that brought together everything they worked all season long for to overcome their deficit one play at a time,” concluded Costa.

Duke had one final chance to make things right. They put the fate of their season in the hands of Cooper Flagg, the best player in the nation, isolated on the wing, guarded by Roberts as time ran down. With under ten seconds remaining, Flagg made his move: A fadeaway mid-range from the free throw line. The shot looked perfect, but did not have enough give as it clanked off the front rim. “As easy it is to blame the loss on Flagg’s missed shot at the end, Duke completely collapsed towards the end of the game. You just can not go over ten minutes without more than one field goal made while playing horrible defense at the same time in the Final Four,” Costa emphasized. Cryer secured the rebound with two seconds left and hit down both free throws after an intentional foul. Duke’s last full-court, hail mary pass, the ball was tipped up and down as time ran out. Houston pulled off a comeback for the ages in the game of the decade, 70-67. 

The Gators and Cougars matched up in the National Championship on Monday, April 7, 2025 at 9:00 pm on CBS. After their incredible win, Houston was given a 65% chance of winning by ESPN despite Florida being two point favorites. This prediction hit dead on, with Florida beating Houston 65-63. Walter Clayton Jr. won Final Four MVP, with another great performance against Houston that included the game-winning defensive stop. Florida trailed at halftime 31-28 but made enough plays down the stretch to edge out their third March Madness Championship. It was a good game, but involved no major runs or big moments, being a very linear, fundamental duel of both teams trading buckets all game long. It is clear that the two Final Four matchups will be eternally considered the highlight of this unique and legendary season of March Madness.