March 31Mar 31 Saturday, April 5 Game 1: Auburn vs. Florida | 6:09 p.m. ET | CBS (Fubo) Game 2: Duke vs. Houston | 8:49 p.m. ET | CBS (Fubo) Monday, April 7 National Championship: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 | 8:50 p.m. ET | CBS (Fubo) Also, future locations: Edited March 31Mar 31 by Iceman
April 1Apr 1 Author History of the Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four YEAR NAME CLASS SCHOOL 2024 Tristen Newton Senior UConn 2023 Adama Sanogo Junior UConn 2022 Ochai Agbaji Senior Kansas 2021 Jared Butler Junior Baylor 2019 Kyle Guy Junior Virginia 2018 Donte DiVincenzo Junior Villanova 2017 Joel Berry II Junior North Carolina 2016 Ryan Arcidiacono Senior Villanova 2015 Tyus Jones Freshman Duke 2014 Shabazz Napier Senior UConn 2013 Luke Hancock Senior Louisville* 2012 Anthony Davis Freshman Kentucky 2011 Kemba Walker Junior UConn 2010 Kyler Singler Junior Duke 2009 Wayne Ellington Junior North Carolina 2008 Mario Chalmers Junior Kansas 2007 Corey Brewer Junior Florida 2006 Joakim Noah Sophomore Florida 2005 Sean May Junior North Carolina 2004 Emeka Okafor Junior UConn 2003 Carmelo Anthony Freshman Syracuse 2002 Juan Dixon Senior Maryland 2001 Shane Battier Senior Duke 2000 Mateen Cleaves Senior Michigan State 1999 Richard Hamilton Junior UConn 1998 Jeff Sheppard Senior Kentucky 1997 Miles Simon Junior Arizona 1996 Tony Delk Senior Kentucky 1995 Ed O'Bannon Senior UCLA 1994 Corliss Williamson Junior Arkansas 1993 Donald Williams Sophomore North Carolina 1992 Bobby Hurley Junior Duke 1991 Christian Laettner Junior Duke 1990 Anderson Hunt Sophomore UNLV 1989 Glen Rice Senior Michigan 1988 Danny Manning Senior Kansas 1987 Keith Smart Junior Indiana 1986 Pervis Ellison Freshman Louisville 1985 Ed Pinckney Senior Villanova 1984 Patrick Ewing Junior Georgetown 1983 Akeem Olajuwon** Sophomore Houston 1982 James Worthy Junior North Carolina 1981 Isiah Thomas Sophomore Indiana 1980 Darrell Griffith Senior Louisville 1979 Magic Johnson Sophomore Michigan State 1978 Jack Givens Senior Kentucky 1977 Butch Lee Junior Marquette 1976 Kent Benson Junior Indiana 1975 Richard Washington Sophomore UCLA 1974 David Thompson Sophomore NC State 1973 Bill Walton % Junior UCLA 1972 Bill Walton N/A UCLA 1971 Vacated N/A N/A 1970 Sidney Wicks N/A UCLA 1969 Lew Alcindor % N/A UCLA 1968 Lew Alcindor % N/A UCLA 1967 Lew Alcindor N/A UCLA 1966 Jerry Chambers ** N/A Utah 1965 Bill Bradley ** N/A Princeton 1964 Walt Hazzard N/A UCLA 1963 Art Heyman ** N/A Duke 1962 Paul Hogue N/A Cincinnati 1961 Jerry Lucas **% N/A Ohio State 1960 Jerry Lucas N/A Ohio State 1959 Jerry West ** N/A West Virginia 1958 Elgin Baylor ** N/A Seattle 1957 Wilt Chamberlain ** N/A Kansas 1956 Hal Lear ** N/A Temple 1955 Bill Russell N/A San Francisco 1954 Tom Gola N/A La Salle 1953 B.H. Born** N/A Kansas 1952 Clyde Lovellette N/A Kansas 1951 Bill Spivey N/A Kentucky 1950 Irwin Dambrot N/A CCNY 1949 Alex Groza % N/A Kentucky 1948 Alex Groza N/A Kentucky 1947 George Kaftan N/A Holy Cross 1946 Bob Kurland % N/A Oklahoma A&M*** 1945 Bob Kurland N/A Oklahoma A&M*** 1944 Arnie Ferrin N/A Utah 1943 Ken Sailors N/A Wyoming 1942 Howie Dallmar N/A Stanford 1941 John Kotz N/A Wisconsin 1940 Marvin Huffman N/A Indiana 1939 Jimmy Hull** N/A Ohio State
April 4Apr 4 Author Saturday No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 1 Florida (-2.5, 159.5) 6:09 p.m. ET (CBS) Bookmaker quote from Thomas Gable, sportsbook director at The Borgata in Atlantic City: "Florida opened as 2.5-point favorites with a total of 162.5. Obviously, the injury to Johni Broome is looming over this game. The spread has stayed steady at -2.5 with good two-way action but the total has come down to 159.5. That was very quick line movement upon opening the number. I don’t believe we are going to hear any real news on the health of Broome, so this is really whether you think he is going to be close to 100% or will be compromised after a week of rest and minimal to no practicing." Corbie Craig, Bettor Odds: Broome’s health is a massive worry of course, but we also don’t look enough at the challenges Florida has found itself in multiple times this tourney — like when the Gators were down nine with two minutes left to a Texas Tech team playing an injured Chance McMillian. Start slow and the Tigers have all the firepower to put you away. Broome, Denver Jones and Tahaad Pettiford get a ton of attention, but in this matchup, I look at Miles Kelly to have a massive impact. A strong body shooting 93% from the stripe and a quick trigger from deep, if Broome isn’t at his best then the swing pass through to Kelly makes a ton of sense. In the game as a whole, the Gators have the guards to speed up Auburn, and I'm good backing the team that plays its style the most. Bet: Florida -2.5 Sam Panayotovich, "Bet Sweats" host: The Florida infatuation is very real after a whole season of hearing that it's Duke and Auburn, then everyone else. I'm banking on Broome being healthy and will happily take a full possession with the veteran-driven Tigers. Bet: Auburn +3 No. 1 Houston vs. No. 1 Duke (-5.5, 136.5) 8:49 p.m. ET (CBS) Gable: "We opened this Duke -4.5 with a total of 136.5. Duke has been such a machine, I wasn’t surprised to see them bet up to as high as -5.5. We did get some buy back on Houston at +5.5 and are currently sitting at 5. A lot of the advanced metric sites make this game a lot closer than 5 but the public is believing their eyes at this point and what they have continued to see with Duke. I personally make this game Duke -4, so I would be happy to grab +5.5 or higher on Houston. The total hasn’t moved off 136.5." Paul Stone, pro bettor: Houston is No. 1 in the country in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom, and the Cougars only had four opponents score 70 or more in regulation all season. The trademark of Kelvin Sampson’s teams has been tenacious defense — and this team is no different. They contest every pass and try to eliminate every angle. They’re relentless and never take their foot off the gas defensively. Duke’s arguably been the best offensive team in college basketball over the course of the season, and I think Sampson realizes the Cougars can’t get in a shootout with the Blue Devils. Houston has to turn it into a rock fight, an ugly game with a slower pace and points at a premium. We saw what Duke did to Alabama’s 3-point attack in its Elite Eight victory, and the Crimson Tide were coming off a historic performance, hitting 25-of-51 three-pointers against BYU in the Sweet 16. Against Duke, however, Bama got very few good looks and went 8-of-32 from downtown, as the Blue Devils were clearly committed to defending the 3-point line. Duke has a lot more length than other teams, which helps the perimeter defense, taking away the sidelines and making it tough on 3-point shooting teams. I like this game to stay under the total. Bet: Under 136.5 Craig: Alabama head coach Nate Oats' postgame presser expresses my current sentiment regarding Duke: “This is an insanely tough two-day prep.” The good news for Sampson is that he's been given the time to sift through the various backdoor lob attempts, elevator screens and other offensive sets that attempt to draw attention away from Cooper Flagg and allow him to slowly piece together an iso game. The Cougars stop backdoor lobs much better than nearly anyone in the country, and although they are small, they will be will prepped for this one. Duke has played very similarly paced teams back to back, giving a pretty easy prep and allowing the game to speed up as it slowly pulls away and runs up the score. This contrast in style should pose some tempo change. I bet the under 136. Bet: Under 136 Mike Randle, FTN Network: We project this as a one-score game at FTN, as Houston has been atop our power rankings for most of the season. Duke has steamrolled through the second half of the season, but has yet to face the level of defensive pressure the Cougars will bring Saturday. There have been teams that defend the 3-point line well (Alabama), or guard the interior well (Louisville), but the overall physicality and rebounding ability of Houston will challenge the Blue Devils' young roster. With a healthy roster, and multiple big men (J'Wan Roberts, Ja'Vier Francis) to limit second-chance points, this line is too many points for a Houston team that is playing in its home state and is hungry for more than just a Final Four appearance. Bet: Houston +5.5
April 4Apr 4 5 minutes ago, GreenspointTexas said: Ted cruz is going to be in attendance Ballgame for UH
April 5Apr 5 Fun for all those cougar fans heading up in their Impalas. Quote If you’re driving into San Antonio via I-10 from Houston there’s a car on fire that’s shutdown the highway. The highway will be closed until 6pm, reportedly. The backup is already several miles through Luling.
April 5Apr 5 1 hour ago, TonyTexas said: Fun for all those cougar fans heading up in their Impalas. never know who you'll see at buccees
April 5Apr 5 I'm having a lot of trouble caring about who wins this game because I don't think either team can beat Duke or Houston.
April 5Apr 5 horrible whistle there, florida clearly had the ball. took two points off the board for florida, possibly three. Edited April 5Apr 5 by Derka
April 5Apr 5 7 minutes ago, Derka said: horrible whistle there, florida clearly had the ball. took two points off the board for florida, possibly three. chop across the arms allowed over and over as well
April 5Apr 5 2 minutes ago, MrX said: Watching these teams vs. watching us…boy we have a long way to go. Yeah this is like a fucking NBA game.
April 5Apr 5 5 minutes ago, PittsburghTiger said: I'm almost too nervous to watch. War Eagle You're a Barn fan, too? Did I miss something?
April 5Apr 5 1 minute ago, ztejas said: You're a Barn fan, too? Did I miss something? That's the "Tiger"
April 5Apr 5 Furious half of basketball. Florida still only down eight. They have to get hot behind the arc probably to win.
April 5Apr 5 It's weird to see the SEC teams play so defense optional and at the paces they play at against each other vs the rest of the field.
April 5Apr 5 I'm enjoying halftime Barkley referring to Auburn as We. No need to pretend, it's your school, everyone knows you're rooting for them.
April 5Apr 5 13 minutes ago, Helobious said: This is a blowout Last game down 11 with 3 mins to go to Tech lol
April 5Apr 5 Did I hear correctly? Dr. J was in the building and CBS chose to not show any video of him...I would have fucked the whole halftime and replaced it with a 5 minute interview of one of the greatest players of all time!!! Leave it to CBS to put the BS in CBS!!!
April 5Apr 5 6 minutes ago, JGrayDBU said: Did I hear correctly? Dr. J was in the building and CBS chose to not show any video of him...I would have fucked the whole halftime and replaced it with a 5 minute interview of one of the greatest players of all time!!! Leave it to CBS to put the BS in CBS!!!
April 5Apr 5 oh bullshit. its an illegal screen by the auburn player first. he's just trying to fight through the elbow in his chest.
April 5Apr 5 58 minutes ago, ztejas said: Yeah this is like a fucking NBA game. complete with the flopping and all
April 5Apr 5 Pearl is amazing. I would have freaked and tried to stop that run with a TO. Double dribble called!! wow!
April 5Apr 5 I think #4 for Auburn is best as a decoy right now. His arm/shoulder has to be killing him.
April 5Apr 5 Everyone bitching about the lack of mid majors or whatever can seriously shut up now (and I think it's a bit of a strawman, anyway). This is AWESOME.
April 5Apr 5 clayton is getting fouled every time down but they won't call it every time. good coaching by pearl.
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