Florida basketball helps make history with first-seed sweep to reach Final Four

Upsets might be the best part of March Madness, hence the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament's nickname, but, somewhat surprisingly, 2025 is only the second time in tournament history that all four No. 1 seeds have reached the Final Four.

Florida was the first No. 1 seed to punch its ticket with a big comeback against No. 3 Texas Tech on Saturday night. The Gators trailed by nine with just over three minutes to go and the duo of Walter Clayton Jr. and Thomas Haugh willed the Orange and Blue to a West Regional win. East Region No. 1 seed Duke took care of business against No. 2 Alabama by a 20-point margin in the later game on Saturday.

Sunday saw South Region No. 1 Auburn and Midwest Region No. 1 Houston take down No. 5 Michigan and No. 2 Tennessee, respectively. Both the Cougars and Tigers won their Elite Eight matchups by double digits. Florida and Auburn will face off in San Antonio on Saturday, with Duke and Houston following. The winners from Saturday will clash on Monday to decide the national championship.

The last time all four No. 1 seeds made it to the Final Four was in 2008, with San Antonio as the host and Kansas, North Carolina, Memphis and UCLA making up the field. The Tar Heels were the top overall seed and fell to Kansas, 84-66, and Memphis took down UCLA, 78-63. Mario Chalmers led the Jayhawks to a national title in overtime, beating Memphis 75-68.

Florida is hoping to follow the same script as Kansas did 17 years ago by beating the top overall seed, Auburn, and claiming the school's third national championship on Monday. The Gators have already taken down the Tigers once this year, but now the pressure is at an all-time as Florida stands two wins away from a third national championship.

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Final Four filled with No. 1 seeds for first time since 2008

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