The Final Four is set. Here’s what to know about this year’s teams as the tourney arrives in San Antonio.

SAN ANTONIO — After the heartbreak and the thrills, the bracket-busting and fanbase-swooning, sixty-eight teams selected to participate in the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament have been whittled down to a Final Four that will do battle at the Alamodome. 

And it’s the four that have been in the driver’s seat the whole month of March: Duke, Florida, Auburn and – the first team from the Lone Star State to make the Final Four when it’s being hosted by a city in the Lone Star State – the University of Houston. 

It’s only the second time ever that the tournament’s four No. 1 seeds – the elite teams from each region – punched their ticket to its last weekend, and the first time since 2008. That means San Antonio will play host to a quartet of men’s college hoops Goliaths, four teams that combined for an incredible 135-16 record this season (including tourney play). 

The semifinals are Saturday, and the championship game is set for Monday, April 7. Here’s what to know about the four teams vying for glory in the Alamo City. 

• Season in brief: 35-3 record, ACC champions
• Stats: 83.7 points scored per game, 62.6 points allowed
• 18th Final Four appearance
• Last NCAA title: 2015

If this year’s Final Four is a Mount Olympus of programs, Duke surely is the Zeus. 

This marks the 18th Final Four for the Blue Devils, who are now in Year 3 ACK (After Coach K). Even without that legendary head coach, however, they’ve hardly missed a step, winning at least 27 games in each of the last three years under head coach Jon Schever. 

• Round of 64: Beat 16-seed Mount St. Mary’s 93-49
• Round of 32: Beat 9-seed Baylor 89-66
• Sweet 16: Beat 4-seed Arizona 100-93
• Elite Eight: Beat 2-seed Alabama 85-65

Duke’s long, tall, NBA-ready standouts smothered the Alabama Crimson Tide’s nation-leading offense and even papered over consensus No. 1 NBA Draft pick Cooper Flagg’s rough shooting night to lift the Blue Devils to the Final Four with an 85-65 victory Saturday night in the NCAA Tournament’s East Region final.

Flagg made only 6 of 16 shots, including a brick that got stuck in the flange of the rim, but still finished with 16 points. Kon Knueppel, another potential lottery pick, led the Blue Devils with 21 points, and Tyrese Proctor — who came to the postgame news conference with the freshly cut net hanging from his neck — finished with 17.

But the most important stat: Alabama’s offense, one coming off a record-setting night from 3 in the Sweet 16, failed to crack 70 points for only the second time this season.

The Crimson Tide’s 35.4% shooting from the floor was their worst all season and their 25% from behind the arc (8 for 32) matched their fourth-worst showing of 2024-25.

“To hold them to 65 points is incredible,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “We watched them play the other night. They scored 113 and made 25 3s. The biggest thing for us was not taking the bait of getting so spread out.”

There are times — see the 30-point, seven-rebound, six-assist skills clinic against BYU — when Flagg just looks like he’s toying with everyone. There are other times — see Saturday’s win over Alabama — when he looks human. Which is more than enough, considering all the talent surrounding him.

The All-American freshman and consensus top pick for this summer’s NBA Draft sprained his left ankle just before the start of March Madness but bounced back in earnest to help lead Duke back to the Final Four. 

Duke vs. University of Houston, Saturday at the Alamodome. Tipoff is set for 7:49 p.m. CT. Watch on CBS. 

• Season in brief: 34-4 record, Big 12 champions
• Stats: 74.0 points scored per game, 58.5 points allowed
• Seventh Final Four appearance
• Last NCAA title: never 

The Cougars have already made history by becoming the first NCAA men’s basketball team from the State of Texas to make the Final Four when a Texas city is playing the role of host. 

Will the home-state advantage play a factor for a Houston team out for revenge against Duke, which booted them from the tourney in the Sweet 16 last year?

• Round of 64: Beat 16-seed SIU Edwardsville 78-40
• Round of 32: Beat 8-seed Gonzaga 81-76
• Sweet 16: Beat 4-seed Purdue 62-60
• Elite Eight: Beat 2-seed Tennessee 69-50

Houston gave Tennessee a lesson in defensive dominance, shutting down the Vols for a 69-50 win to reach the Final Four for the seventh time. The Cougars held Tennessee to 15 first-half points and 29% shooting overall, including 5 of 29 from 3.

L.J. Cryer finished with 17 points, Emanuel Sharp scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and the nation’s stingiest defense delivered a historic NCAA Tournament performance, leading top-seeded Houston past second-seeded Tennessee 69-50 on Sunday for the Midwest Region title and a trip to the Final Four.

The Cougars (34-4) broke the school’s single-season record for wins, extended the nation’s longest active winning streak to 17 games and gave coach Kelvin Sampson a third chance to reach his first national championship game.

Houston has played on college basketball’s biggest stage twice, losing title games in 1983 to N.C. State and in 1984 to Georgetown during the Phi Slama Jama era.

Now the nation’s best defensive team will face one of its best on offense. Houston has dominated defensively under coach Kelvin Sampson and this season led the nation in points allowed at 58.5 per game. The Cougars were at their smothering best in the Elite Eight against Tennessee, holding the Vols nearly 25 points below their scoring average. 

Houston has some offense to go with it. The trio of L.J. Cryer, Emanuel Sharp and Milo Uzan can take over any game at any moment. The Cougars will face their tallest order of the season against the big, athletic Blue Devils. 

Duke has length at every position and its own players who can fill it up, led by All-America freshman Cooper Flagg. The Blue Devils aren’t too shabby on defense, either, evidenced by their shutdown of Alabama, the nation’s highest-scoring team, in the Elite Eight.

Fittingly for the team with the nation’s best defense, a player who only averages 5.5 points could be the most valuable for the Cougars. Tugler is on everyone’s all-defense list, and for Houston to have any chance at stopping Flagg, it’ll have to figure out ways to use Tugler to do it.

Cryer is Houston’s leading scorer at 15.2 points a game. If the Cougars end up as national champs, it will have to be because he played the two best games of his life.

Duke vs. University of Houston, Saturday at the Alamodome. Tipoff is set for 7:49 p.m. CT. Watch on CBS. 

• Season in brief: 34-4 record, SEC champions
• Stats: 85.4 points scored per game, 69.7 points allowed
• Sixth Final Four appearance
• Last NCAA title: 2007

Making their first Final Four in 11 years, Florida is looking to get back to the glory days of the mid-2000s, when the school won back-to-back NCAA titles. 

They’ve certainly put together the pedigree, slipping by defending champion UConn in the second round and rallying from nine points down with three minutes left to beat Texas Tech on Saturday. Have those dramatics primed them for the ultimate stage in San Antonio?

• Round of 64: Beat 16-seed Norfolk State 95-69
• Round of 32: Beat 8-seed UConn 77-75
• Sweet 16: Beat 4-seed Maryland 87-71
• Elite Eight: Beat 3-seed Texas Tech 84-79

Walter Clayton Jr. rescued top-seeded Florida with two late 3-pointers, and the Gators rallied from nine points down late to beat Texas Tech 84-79 in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region final on Saturday.

“It goes to show how together we all area,” Clayton said. “Many times could easily just break, start pointing the finger, blaming each other for this and that. But we just stayed together through the end and stayed the course. And thankfully we got it done today.”

The Gators (34-4) trailed 75-66 with less than three minutes to play before staging a furious rally against the third-seeded Red Raiders (28-9), who had done the same in the Sweet 16 against Arkansas.

Clayton dribbled out of the paint and hit a fadeaway 3 with 59 seconds left to give Florida a 78-77 lead, and the Gators held on from there to advance to their first Final Four since 2014 in Golden’s third season. Florida will face the South Region champion — either Auburn or Michigan State — next Saturday in San Antonio.

“The biggest thing in those moments is you need to have somebody that wants to take those shots,” Coach Todd Golden said. “They’re obviously difficult plays, but someone that has the confidence to step up and make incredible individual plays. Walter did that for us tonight.”

The Gators have a star player in All-American Clayton, who made the tying and go-ahead 3s in Florida’s ferocious comeback against Texas Tech. 

He finished with 30 points and his coach, Todd Golden, said, “There’s not another player in America you would rather have right now than Walter Clayton with the ball in his hands in a big-time moment.”

Clayton leads the Gators with 18.1 points per game this season. 

Florida vs. Auburn, Saturday at the Alamodome. Tipoff is set for 5:09 p.m. CT. Watch on CBS. 

• Season in brief: 32-5 record, lost in SEC Tournament Semifinals
• Stats: 83.2 points scored per game, 69.2 points allowed
• Second Final Four appearance
• Last NCAA title: never

One of two Final Four teams looking to win their first NCAA men’s basketball title, the Tigers are in the NCAA tourney for just the seventh time this century after posting their first 30-win campaign since 2018-19. 

Now they’re looking to win it all in San Antonio—and fans are breathing a sigh of relief that 6-foot-10 All-American Johni Broome will join them for the effort after leaving Sunday’s game with an arm injury before returning to the court. 

• Round of 64: Beat 16-seed Alabama State 83-63
• Round of 32: Beat 9-seed Creighton 82-70
• Sweet 16: Beat 5-seed Michigan 78-65
• Elite Eight: Beat 2-seed Michigan State 70-64

Johni Broome held his injured right arm through most of Auburn’s Elite Eight postgame celebration.

That didn’t keep the star forward from climbing a ladder to cut down the net he then wore around his neck.

Broome had 25 points and 14 rebounds and Auburn took command with 17 unanswered points in the first half to beat Michigan State 70-64 on Sunday and complete a sweep of No. 1 seeds advancing to the Final Four.

“You talk about delivering again at the biggest moments,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said of Broome.

Auburn (32-5) earned its second Final Four trip, while Michigan State (30-7) fell short in its bid to send coach Tom Izzo to his ninth national semifinal. Pearl also led Auburn to its only previous Final Four appearance, in 2019.

The South Region champion Tigers, the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, became the last of the No. 1 seeds to advance to the Final Four.

Jaxon Kohler led the Spartans with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Jaden Akins had 15 points.

Broome fell on his right arm while attempting to block a shot with 10:37 remaining and left the game. He was escorted to the locker room for a quick examination. Broome, the Associated Press SEC player of the year and a first-team All-America selection, appeared to hurt his right elbow on the fall.

Broome returned with 5:29 remaining, drawing an immediate ovation from Auburn fans. He had the elbow wrapped and sank a 3-pointer less than a minute later. He also grabbed a rebound with one hand.

“It was a scary moment,” Broome said. “I went down but my team had my back.”

Broome said he was told by a team doctor “nothing serious” was wrong with the elbow, which appeared to bend at an ugly angle on his fall.

“I bet he’ll be sore tomorrow,” Pearl said.

Broome made 10 of 13 shots from the field, including each of his two 3-pointers.

“That’s why he’s an All-American,” Izzo said. “That’s why he’s a player of the year candidate. Did a hell of a job. … We did most of the things we wanted to do except guard Broome a little better.”

Broome had 25 points and 14 rebounds in Auburn’s Regional Final win over Michigan State—a stat line reflecting what he’s been doing all year. The senior forward is the Tigers’ leader in points (18.7), rebounds (10.9) assists (2.9) and blocks per game (2.1) this year. 

Auburn vs. Florida, Saturday at the Alamodome. Tipoff is set for 5:09 p.m. CT. Watch on CBS.