The NCAA men’s basketball tournament’s main event is at hand, and a strong case could be made that any of the four teams left standing could wind up cutting down the nets in San Antonio Monday night.
First and foremost, of course, they’re all No. 1 seeds as bracket followers well know. The accomplished foursome has a cumulative record of 135-16. Three of the four won their conference tournaments, and the fourth won a the regular-title of the best league and a prestigious holiday tournament.
But only one of them can emerge victorious after the weekend, so here’s how we think the Final Four teams rank in terms of their chances of securing the title.
No. 1 Duke
Regular readers will undoubtedly recall that we had Florida in the top spot a week ago in our Sweet 16 reseed. But it’s become increasingly undeniable that the Blue Devils are the most complete team in the field. They have enough options on the offensive end to compensate when mainstay Cooper Flagg has a relative off day, as he did against Alabama. But it’s been their well-executed team defense with big men Khaman Maluach and Patrick Ngongba as rim protectors that has enabled them to win all their games in the tournament thus far with little to no drama. Jon Scheyer has put together the right blend of youth and veterans to create a team that will be difficult to beat.
No. 2 Florida
With that said, however, the Gators are still the best team from the deepest conference, and their knack for finding ways to win tight contests can’t be overlooked. Walter Clayton Jr. has demonstrated takeover ability against both Connecticut and Texas Tech when the Gators seemed to be wobbling. But he’ll almost certainly need help as the level of competition amps up even more. A performance like Thomas Haugh's 20 points off the bench against Texas Tech was encouraging. There are several others capable of shouldering the load, and a deep frontcourt should be capable of slowing Auburn in the semifinal.
