Well, we are at the 67th and final game of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Division I basketball tournament, and the two teams/schools (Florida Gators, Houston Cougars) that I picked to win two days ago have both advanced to tonight’s NCAA Men’s championship game. And not only did both teams/schools prove me right because in addition, they engineered rallies in their respective games, with the Gators erasing multiple nine-point deficits to beat their SEC rival, the Auburn Tigers, while the Cougars erased a 14-point second half deficit (including a 9-0 run in the final 35 seconds) to stun the Duke Blue Devils. So, now the question is which team’s momentum will translate into a national championship tonight?
Well, late-game rallies could catch up to teams that are playing in the next playoff game, whether it’s a single-elimination style playoff game or the next game in a series that has a maximum of seven (sometimes five) games. But the Cougars are a relentlessly resilient team, so I do not see fatigue becoming a factor for them at all in this game. Plus, they are the nation’s number scoring defense (I learned about this after my Final Four predictions had posted) and I’m a big believer in defense winning championships.
Yes, I’m taking Kelvin Sampson’s bunch to both give the program its first NCAA championship in program history and their very revered head coach his first career championship. Plus, I just don’t see Gators guard Walter Clayton Jr. putting up a gaudy scoring output against the Cougars and all of that defensive versatility that they have.
Tune in next Monday to see how I did with my prediction for this game.