2025 cbhsports men’s NCAA College Basketball Tournament Final Four Preview 

Image Courtesy: The Fayetteville Observer

Saturday, April 5
1.Auburn (27-4) vs. 1.Florida (27-4)
The Alamodome (San Antonio)
6:09 PM ET, CBS
The first Final Four with all one seeds since 2008 tips off with a match up between two old rivals down south. Back on February 8th, Florida became the first team in the SEC to beat Auburn. The Gators beat the Tigers 90-81 on the road at Neville Arena. After that loss, Auburn still won the regular season crown in the league but did not play as well as they were back in November, December, and most of January. They picked it up with better performances in the south regional in Atlanta with potential national player of the year Johni Broome (47 points and 30 rebounds) and guards Tahaad Pettiford (30 points) and Denver Jones (28 points) performing well over the last two games in wins over Michigan and Michigan State. The aforementioned Broome exited Sunday’s Elite Eight match up against the Spartans with an injury before returning to the game after his x-rays were negative. He did not practice on Tuesday and Wednesday but returned to practice on Thursday. On the other hand, Florida had to go on a big run to beat three seed Texas Tech to advance to the Final Four. Gator guard Walter Clayton has exploded during the NCAA Tournament scoring 23 points against UConn in the Round of 32 and 30 against the Red Raiders in Elite Eight. Throughout the tournament the Gators have not been as consistent overall as they were to finish the regular season and when they won the SEC Tournament Championship. Clayton will need not only his backcourt mates like Alijah Martin, Will Richard, and Denzel Aberdeen but also Alex Condon, Rueben Chinyelu, Thomas Waugh, and Micah Handlogten in the front court. All of these guys have been great at some point during the season but beating the nation’s top overall seed twice in a season is no easy task. Auburn is playing better basketball than Florida right now but if Broome is limited with his injury, the Tigers will have to rely more on their other veteran big man Dylan Cardwell. A Tiger win could set up an ACC/SEC Challenge rematch if the Blue Devils are also able to come out victorious on Saturday. An SEC battle with Todd Golden facing his old boss Bruce Pearl with a national championship appearance on the line. Projected Score: Auburn 85, Florida 80

1.Duke (28-3) vs. 1.Houston (27-4)
The Alamodome (San Antonio)
8:49 PM ET, CBS
Duke has been the best team in the NCAA Tournament but do not look past Houston’s run either. Both teams dominated their leagues during the regular season with both squads losing only one conference game each. Duke’s Jon Scheyer built an almost perfect NBA-like roster around likely top pick in this summer’s NBA Draft, freshman forward Cooper Flagg. Fellow freshmen Kon Knueppel (who will likely join him as a lottery pick this summer), Khaman Maluach, and Caleb Foster. It was really Scheyer’s ability to add veterans this past off-season that have been at this stage before like former Purdue forward Mason Gillis, who played in the national championship last season with the Boilermakers to help lead this team driven by freshmen. Houston is certainly known for its defense and the Cougars turned in a dominant defensive performance against Tennessee in the Elite Eight, holding the Volunteers to just 15 first half points. Even though the game became close in the second half, guard Emanuel Sharp answered almost every one of Tennessee’s runs with a three pointer, scoring 16 points in the victory. Kelvin Sampson’s team will also need leading scorer LJ Cryer a terrific as well as forward J’Wan Roberts to be fantastic against Duke defense. In addition, the balance of Houston will have to match the balance of Duke. Whether it is fellow bigs Joseph Tuggler and Ja’Vier or guards Milos Uzan and Mylik Wilson, they will have to match what Duke does. The Cougars are capable of winning the game because they have been the best defensive team in their country but it will be their offense that will be their letdown against this Duke team that has a defense that is probably the second best left in this Final Four field. Projected Score: Duke 77, Houston 72

National Championship Game Projection
Monday, April 7
1.Duke over 1.Auburn
8:50 PM ET, CBS
1.Duke over 1.Auburn
In a rematch of the ACC/SEC Challenge, the Blue Devils sweep the Tigers.