An undeniably chalky March has culminated in a historically strong Final Four; all No. 1 seeds have reached the sport’s biggest stage for only the second time since seeding was introduced in 1979. Auburn, Duke, Houston and Florida separated themselves throughout the season as the clear upper echelon of college basketball, a claim backed by both the eye test and advanced analytics. The 4.4-point gap between fourth-ranked Auburn and fifth-ranked Tennessee in KenPom’s net rating is greater than the difference between the Volunteers and 11th-ranked Iowa State. It shapes up to be a tightly-contested, best-on-best showcase the likes of which we haven’t seen in decades.
But how did we get here? Even if at times it felt like destiny that these teams would end up in San Antonio, all four squads still endured trials and tribulations along the way. Each one experienced its own euphoric peaks and even a semi-worrying stretch or two.
Let’s dive further into each team’s season to better understand the journey it took to get to the destination.
Auburn
Tabbed by the selection committee as the overall No. 1 seed, the Tigers have taken a bit of a peculiar path. Five losses is the most of any remaining contender, but a top-20 nonconference strength of schedule and finishing atop a historically dominant SEC propelled Auburn to the apex of the seed list.
Even casual fans of the sport likely heard entering the tournament that the Tigers had dropped three of their last four. While it is true that Auburn’s worst stretch of the season hit in March, the doomsday statement spread like wildfire without a much-needed bit of nuance: None of the losses were remotely bad.
The worst of the three — and of the entire season — was the first, an 83-72 road loss to Texas A&M in the penultimate game on the schedule. The Aggies went on to win an NCAA Tournament game and lead by double-digits in the second half of their Round of 32 matchup; by no means can falling at Reed Arena be considered a bad loss, even for the top team in the country. Then came the return game of the rivalry series with Alabama. The Tigers fell by two in overtime, ending their regular season on a two-game skid. The Crimson Tide, of course, made a run to the Elite Eight as a No. 2-seed before falling to Duke. After a bounce-back victory over Ole Miss to open the SEC Tournament, Auburn again found itself licking some wounds after a physical loss to Tennessee sent it turning its eyes toward Selection Sunday early. The second-seeded Volunteers also eventually bowed out to a No. 1 seed in the Elite Eight.
All that to say, there may have been some overreactions. Led by experienced head coach Bruce Pearl, the Tigers were probably always going to be fine. Fans of the Blue Devils certainly remember their first loss, an 84-78 defeat in Cameron Indoor Stadium back in early December, and the only other stumble on the schedule came in a home loss to the Gators in early February. Outside of this pair of losses to two of the other three best teams in the country and the difficult stretch run in March, Auburn was flawless.
National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome led the squad through the gauntlet en route to 16 Quad 1 victories. After a fight on the team plane put the Tigers in the national spotlight in the season’s opening week, they took down the Cougars for a big victory. Then they dominated the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, picking up wins against three eventual tournament teams in Iowa State, North Carolina and Memphis along the way. They won 20 of their next 21 games after falling in Durham, including a win over Purdue and sweeps of Ole Miss and Georgia. It was utter destruction.
Despite multiple halftime deficits, Auburn ultimately cruised to victory in each of its four tournament games. Now it’s time for some rematches. First up is an opportunity for revenge against Florida, then a second contest against either Duke or Houston.
At the end of a triumphant yet strange season, the Tigers have a chance to reach the summit. They’ll have to go through some familiar foes to do it.
Houston
Things have looked a bit more traditional for head coach Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars. Some early season shakiness — though it feels a bit unfair to even call it that — eventually faded from memory as Houston picked up steam throughout conference play and into the postseason.
Facing a difficult November schedule, the Cougars dropped three of their first four games against Power-5 opponents. The aforementioned stumble against Auburn in Week 1 would turn out to be the only regulation loss all year for Houston, while overtime defeats in Las Vegas to Alabama and San Diego State dropped the preseason-No. 4 team to 4-3. The Cougars fell all the way down to 17th in the Week 5 AP poll following the losses.
But then something changed. It may not even have been anything about the Houston squad itself. Four tune-up games against lower-level competition got the Cougars back on track going into conference play, and suddenly they were rolling. Wins in its first nine Big 12 games put Houston at the top of the conference as league foes like Kansas and Iowa State stumbled.
So what was it? How was this team that looked good-but-not-great suddenly dominating one of basketball’s best conferences? Well, for one, none of the early-season losses turned out to be as detrimental as they seemed at the time. The Tigers entered the season and took down the Cougars as the No. 11 team in the nation, while the Crimson Tide sat at 9th when they beat Houston. Four months later, of course, both of these squads have proven themselves as two of the top teams in the country. Even the Aztecs snuck into the tournament as a First Four participant, though they clearly represent the worst loss on the Cougars’ resume.
But enough about the losses. When Houston flipped the switch, it quickly became clear just how strong it could be. Four of the starters from last year’s season-ending Sweet 16 defeat to the Blue Devils returned, with Oklahoma transfer Milos Uzan the only new piece in the starting rotation. This increasingly-rare continuity and experience eventually broke through and the Cougars went streaking.
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Season sweeps over Kansas, Baylor and West Virginia highlighted the dominant conference slate for Houston as it cruised to a regular season Big 12 championship by a four-game margin. An early-February overtime loss to eventual Elite Eight squad Texas Tech served as the lone blemish, though the Cougars even avenged the loss in Lubbock a month later.
Three straight Big 12 Tournament wins completed the double, and Houston was awarded its third-consecutive No. 1 seed. Injuries to critical pieces ultimately led to Sweet 16 upsets in both 2023 and 2024, so Sampson and his squad were looking for a change in fortunes. They have found just that, completely dominating No. 16-seed SIU-Edwardsville, rallying to take down No. 8-seed Gonzaga, escaping against No. 4-seed Purdue, and thoroughly dismantling No.2 -seed Tennessee.
The Cougars have been tested, but their physical defense and offensive rebounding have carried them down I-10 to San Antonio. Avenging last year’s disappointing loss to the Blue Devils is the only step standing between Houston and a trip to the title game.
Florida
In each of head coach Todd Golden’s three years at the helm, Florida has improved substantially. A sub-.500 2022-23 season gave way to the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth in three years in 2024, where the Gators fell in the first round to Colorado in one of the best games of the tournament. With three starters returning including All-SEC Second Team guard Walter Clayton Jr., Golden recognized the opportunity to make something special happen.
With the additions of former FAU guard Alijah Martin and Washington State center Rueben Chinyelu, the Gators entered the year with a formidable five. Unlike the other three remaining contenders, though, Florida was not considered to be in the upper tier of teams entering the season.
Ranked No. 21 in the preseason poll, the Gators instead had to work their way into that conversation. 13 straight wins to start the year against lower-level competition — with the exception of eventual bubble team North Carolina, — propelled the squad inside the top 10 and established its place as a team to watch in conference play.
A 106-100 road loss to Kentucky to start the SEC campaign raised some concerns that the weak schedule may have overinflated expectations, but those doubts were quickly silenced; the Gators turned around three days later to slaughter then-No. 1 Tennessee 73-43. The win moved them into the top five for the first time and launched a season to remember in SEC play.
Led by Clayton, Martin, guard Will Richard and big man Alex Condon, Florida held up well against a slate of strong SEC teams. Slip-ups against Missouri and Georgia — both tournament teams — are the worst marks on the schedule, while a lopsided loss at the Volunteers in the return game rounds out the last of Florida’s four defeats.
Outside of these conference losses to good teams, the Gators were dominant. Road victories over Alabama and Auburn acted as the statement wins, with victories against Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Texas A&M to boot. But the stretch where national eyes really turned to Florida as a top contender for the national title came in March.
Three straight Quad 1 wins to close the regular season tabbed the Gators as the No. 2 seed in the SEC tournament and gave them a double-bye. The break didn’t cool their hot streak, however, as they dismantled Missouri, Alabama and Tennessee en route to the program’s first conference title since 2014.
These six wins, all against top-shelf competition, cemented Golden’s squad as a No. 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament and provided real hope that it could bring home a national title for the first time in 18 years. That hope has only become more realistic with each passing game. Florida has certainly faced some scares — it trailed both No. 8-seeded UConn and third-seeded Texas Tech deep into the second half — but at the end of the day, this squad is still loaded. Clayton, especially, can catch fire at any time, making the Gators a tough out and a threat regardless of the score.
In its first Final Four appearance in 11 years, Florida did not just make it this far to make it this far. It has boiled down to a simple four-team tourney of all No. 1 seeds, and the Gators are looking to be the last ones standing.