After a great season, the Final Four is finally here. Out of the 68 teams that made the tournament, only four remain. The four teams remaining are the Duke Blue Devils, Houston Cougars, Auburn Tigers, and the Florida Gators. Let’s take a look at the matchups.
#1 Auburn Tigers vs #1 Florida Gators / Saturday, April 5th, 6:09 PM
Auburn enters the matchup with a 32-5 record, while Florida enters with a 34-4 record.
The Auburn Tigers were easily the most dominant team in the regular season, finishing SEC play with a 15-3 record and winning the most stacked conference of all time by a game. Auburn’s resume is their most impressive stat, here’s some of the NCAA tournament teams that they beat. #1 Seed Houston (74-69), #2 Seed Tennessee (53-51), #2 Seed Alabama (94-85), #2 Seed Michigan State (70-64), #3 Seed Iowa State (83-81), #3 Seed Kentucky (94-78), and they beat #4 Seed Purdue (87-69). The Tigers also have one of the best players in college basketball, Johni Broome. Broome was the betting favorite to win the NPOY for most of the season until Cooper Flagg took his spot, but Broome is still having a great year. Every good team needs depth, and this Auburn team is no exception. The Tigers use an eight-man lineup, seven of them are seniors, and one of them is a likely NBA pick freshman. The average age of the Tigers is 23.2, that’s the oldest team in college basketball. Auburn is stacked, but will it be enough?
The Florida Gators are the hottest team in college basketball, winners of their last 10 games. The Gators finished second in the loaded SEC with a 14-4 record, only behind Auburn. Florida also has a stacked resume, with wins over #1 Seed Auburn (90-81), #2 Seed Tennessee (73-43), #2 Seed Alabama (99-94), #3 Seed Texas Tech (84-79), #4 Seed Maryland (87-71), #4 Seed Texas A&M (89-70), and #6 Seed Ole Miss (90-71). Florida would not have been able to beat all these great teams if it wasn’t for NPOY finalist Walter Clayton Jr. Florida is one of the most talented teams in college basketball, they are also a very experienced team. Out of the Gators’ eight-man rotation, three of them are seniors, two of them are juniors, and three of them are sophomores. Florida has a great mixture of veterans and youth, can they beat the oldest team in college basketball?
Game Prediction: Auburn Wins 76-69
#1 Duke Blue Devils vs #1 Houston Cougars / Saturday, April 5th, 8:49 PM
Duke enters the matchup with a 31-3 record, while Houston enters with a 30-4 record.
The Duke Blue Devils are easily the most talented team we’ve seen in a while. They are entering this matchup the winners of their last 11 games, and are averaging 82.7 PPG on the season. Some people think freshmen can’t lead teams to a National Championship, but Duke is proving them wrong. Out of their 10-man rotation, five of them are freshmen, one of them is a sophomore, two of them are juniors, and two of them are seniors. The Blue Devils also have some big wins this year, including wins over #1 Seed Auburn (84-78), #2 Seed Alabama (85-65), #4 Seed Arizona (69-55), #6 Seed Illinois (110-67), and #8 Seed Louisville (76-65). Duke is led by the best player in college basketball and the future #1 pick in the draft, Cooper Flagg. Flagg can create for himself while creating for his teammates at the same time. Duke is such a matchup nightmare for any opposing team, as they are the tallest team in college basketball. This team is almost impossible to beat.
The Houston Cougars are a #1 Seed for the third year straight, and it feels like they are due to break through and win a National Championship. The Cougars play a style of defense that you rarely see. They will blitz you, check you, elbow you, and push you around. If you aren’t prepared for it, you will pay for it. Out of their 8-man rotation, four of them are seniors, two of them are juniors, and two of them are sophomores. Usually, a Houston team is only known for its defense, but this team has a top-10 offense. We’ve never seen a Houston team with this good of an offense. The Cougars have beat some good teams this year, including #2 Seed Tennessee (69-50), #3 Seed Texas Tech (69-61), #3 Seed Iowa State (68-59), #4 Seed Purdue (62-60), #4 Seed Arizona (62-58), and #6 Seed BYU (74-54). Houston is the only Final Four team without a star player, they are led by 2-3 players every game. Can the defense beat the offense?
Game Prediction: Duke Wins 71-60
National Championship- #1 Duke Blue Devils vs #1 Auburn Tigers / Monday, April 7th
If this game were to happen, it would be a phenomenal game. Duke and Auburn have been 1A and 1B the entire season, and this would be one of the most anticipated National Championship games of the last decade. Neither of these coaches has brought a team to the Championship, but one team has an x-factor. Duke has a graduate transfer on their bench named Mason Gillis, he played in the National Championship last year for Purdue and will have a chance to avenge his loss this year. Duke is the youngest team in college basketball, while Auburn is the oldest team in college basketball. This would be such a great matchup. This would also give us a head-to-head matchup with the #1 and #2 players in the country. Duke’s Cooper Flagg is the favorite to win the NPOY, while Auburn’s Johni Broome is right behind him in 2nd. This will be must-see-tv. Don’t miss it.
Game Prediction: Duke wins 84-76
