Correction: A previous version of this story had the incorrect winner of the game between Auburn and Florida.
The stage is set for the Final Four of the NCAA men’s tournament in San Antonio, Texas.
This year’s national semifinals will feature a star-studded cast — and a chalky, historic one at that. For just the first time since 2008 and just the second time in NCAA Tournament history, the Final Four will be all No. 1 seeds: Florida, Duke, Houston and Auburn.
In Saturday’s first game, Florida will face Auburn for the second time this season. The Gators took the regular-season meeting, winning 90-81 in early February. It’ll be the Blue Devils and Cougars in the second matchup.
The Gators booked their spot with a memorable Elite Eight comeback against No. 3 Texas Tech. Duke was dominant in shutting down No. 2 Alabama’s top-ranked offense. Houston bullied No. 2 Tennessee and Auburn pulled away from No. 2 Michigan State.
It was a bittersweet second weekend for the SEC, which had visions of sending four teams to the Alamodome but will settle instead for only half the field. This is the fifth time the conference has put multiple teams into the Final Four.
The biggest winner of the weekend has to be the Blue Devils, who are the team to beat after bulldozing through the East region to reach the semifinals for the first time under third-year coach Jon Scheyer.
Duke and the SEC lead the tournament winners and losers heading into the Final Four:
Winners
Duke
The Blue Devils’ 85-65 win against Alabama was a defensive masterclass. After setting a tournament record with 25 makes from behind the arc in the Sweet 16 against No. 6 Brigham Young, the Crimson Tide went just 8 of 32 from 3-point range against Duke, which was superb at closing out on defenders around the perimeter. This performance offset a less-than-stellar game from the Duke offense, which was bogged down behind an uncharacteristically weak game from freshman forward Cooper Flagg. After putting on a clinic in the Sweet 16 against No. 4 Arizona, Flagg finished with just 16 points on 6 of 16 shooting. But teammates such as freshman guard Kon Knueppel stepped up to erase the sour taste of last year’s Elite Eight upset against North Carolina State. Even when not at their best, the Blue Devils resemble a powerhouse — and that has to be an intimidating thought for the rest of the Final Four to consider.
Jon Scheyer
The former Duke guard and Mike Krzyzewski assistant has delivered in the wake of a coaching legend unlike few in the history of the sport. The way this year’s roster was constructed speaks to Scheyer’s grasp of how to build a winner in college basketball’s current environment: The Blue Devils have combined a transcendent freshman class with key veteran transfers such as Mason Gillis, Sion James and Maliq Brown. This blend has Duke surging into the Final Four.
The SEC
That the Volunteers and Tide couldn’t get through the Elite Eight doesn’t change the fact that the SEC is not only the best conference in college basketball this season – that’s been settled for months – but one of the most dominant single-season leagues in NCAA history. Yeah, getting even three teams into the Final Four would’ve felt like a coronation; that’s something only one conference, the Big East in 1985 has ever achieved. Still, to have multiple SEC teams in the semifinals is a fitting way to end this season.
Houston
It wasn’t the easiest road to the Elite Eight for the Big 12 regular-season and tournament champions. The Cougars struggled to put away No. 8 Gonzaga in the second round, winning 81-76 after the Bulldogs missed the potential game-tying 3-pointer with three seconds left, and then needed a bucket off an inbounds play with under a second remaining to beat No. 4 Purdue 62-60. But things came much, much easier in the Elite Eight against Tennessee. Houston’s defense delivered once again by limiting the Volunteers to just 15 points in the first half and 28.8% shooting overall to win 69-50 and reach the Final Four for the second time under coach Kelvin Sampson.
Auburn
It seems like all good news for the tournament’s top-overall seed. After surviving a stiff test in the Sweet 16 from No. 5 Michigan to win 78-65, Auburn held off the Spartans’ late offensive surge and pulled out a 70-64 win. That sends coach Bruce Pearl and the Tigers back to the Final Four for the first time since 2019 and second time overall. Auburn also seems to have dodged a bullet after star forward Johni Broome suffered an apparent arm injury with 10:37 to play. After being taken into the locker room for observation, Broome checked back in at the 5:29 mark and immediately pulled down a rebound and made a 3-pointer to push Auburn’s lead to 60-48. He finished with a game-high 25 points and 14 rebounds. Broome makes Auburn go; taking him out of the equation in San Antonio would’ve drastically cut down on the Tigers’ chances of winning the first championship in program history.
Losers
Texas Tech
The Red Raiders rode the tournament rollercoaster: Two days after shocking No. 10 Arkansas by climbing out of a 16-point hole and then winning in overtime to reach the Elite Eight, Texas Tech coughed up a 75-66 lead with three minutes to play and lost 84-79 to the Gators. Walter Clayton Jr. and Thomas Haugh combined for 50 points for Florida, including multiple key makes down the stretch, as Tech failed to seal the deal and reach the second Final Four in program history.
The Big Ten
With Michigan State losing to Auburn, the Big Ten will fail to put a team in the semifinals for the fourth time in the past five tournaments. That’s part of an even larger drought that hangs over the league: No team from the Big Ten has won the national championship since the Spartans in 2000. Another three teams failed to advance past the Sweet 16 in Purdue, Michigan and No. 4 Maryland, which fell 87-71 to Florida.
Rick Barnes
For the second year in a row, Tennessee’s season ended in the regional final. Yes, this is a trend under coach Rick Barnes, who made the Final Four at Texas in 2003 but has gone 0-4 in the Elite Eight since. While Barnes’ work at Tennessee has been terrific overall — he’s steadily built the program into an annual championship contender — Sunday’s loss to the Cougars might be the most painful of his tenure in Knoxville. The Volunteers missed their first 14 attempts from deep, trailed by as many as 22 points in the first half, scored just three fastbreak points and were outscored 30-14 in the paint.