How the Final Four teams were built

The 2025 Final Four is a reflection of an excellent seeding job by the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

Auburn, Duke, Houston, and Florida were the top-4 teams in the committee's bracket, and those are the last four remaining as the action heads to San Antonio this weekend. It marks just the second time in NCAA Tournament history that the Final Four is composed of all four No. 1 seeds.

While the four teams are clearly the most successful in the sport this year, they built their rosters in different ways to chart their paths to the national semifinals.

Here's how each went about it in the era of the transfer portal, immediate eligibility and NIL.

Florida

Walter Clayton Jr.: Transfer from Iona (2023)
Will Richard: Transfer from Belmont (2022)
Alijah Martin: Transfer from FAU (2024)
Alex Condon: No. 32 center in class of 2023
Thomas Haugh: No. 37 power forward in class of 2023
Denzel Aberdeen: No. 41 shooting guard in class of 2022
Rueben Chinyelu: Transfer from Washington State (2024)
Micah Handlogten: Transfer from Marshall (2023)

Florida's recipe for success is an exceptional mix of transfer portal recruitment and outstanding player development. The perimeter is littered with transfers from mid-major programs who have taken their games to the next level in the SEC.

Clayton joined from Iona two years ago and seemingly can't go a game without a Steph Curry comparison. Richard's been with the Gators for three years after a freshman campaign at Belmont, and Martin came north from Florida Atlantic prior to this season after playing a huge role in its Cinderella run to the Final Four two years ago. Add the towering combo of Chinyelu and Handlogten to the mix, and five transfers are playing huge roles for the Gators.

The three key contributors from the high school ranks are all stories of great development in Gainesville. Condon, Haugh, and Aberdeen all ranked outside the top-30 for their positions coming out of high school but have blossomed into major players for the Gators. Haugh has been a breakout name in the NCAA Tournament, especially with his brilliant 20-point, 11-rebound performance off the bench in the Elite Eight.

Head coach: Todd Golden

Golden took the Florida job after his first three years as a head coach in San Francisco. Following a 16-17 record in his opening season, he got the Gators back to the NCAA Tournament last year. However, this campaign has been a completely different animal with Florida winning 34 games and claiming the SEC Tournament title in arguably the best conference we've ever seen.

Auburn

Johni Broome: Transfer from Morehead State (2022)
Chad Baker-Mazara: Transfer from Northwest Florida State College (2023)
Tahaad Pettiford: No. 7 point guard in class of 2024
Miles Kelly: Transfer from Georgia Tech (2024)
Denver Jones: Transfer from FIU (2023)
Chaney Johnson: Transfer from D-II Alabama Huntsville (2023)
Dylan Cardwell: No. 38 center in class of 2020

If you've watched any Auburn games this NCAA Tournament, you are well aware the average age of the Tigers' starting five is older than the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder. There's no way around it, Auburn features an incredibly old roster for a college team - a result of a boatload of transfers and the extra COVID year of eligibility.

Broome started his career with two seasons at Morehead State before making the leap and dominating the SEC. He's joined by 25-year-old Baker-Mazara who is on the Van Wilder plan at his fourth collegiate stop. Johnson and Jones transferred in prior to the 2023-24 season with Kelly making the short trip from Georgia Tech for his final collegiate campaign.

The most electric player among the key contributors is also the youngest, with Pettiford a highly coveted high school recruit who opted to join the Tigers as the seventh-best point guard in the class of 2024. Cardwell represents the only other player getting significant minutes who joined Auburn out of high school.

Head coach: Bruce Pearl

Pearl now in his 11th year at Auburn is today's bit of news that makes us all feel old. It doesn't seem that long ago he was taking upstart Milwaukee on a Cinderella run to the Sweet 16 in the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Pearl has compiled the fifth-most wins of any SEC coach when you combine his time with the Tigers and at Tennessee.

Duke

Cooper Flagg: No. 1 national prospect in class of 2024
Kon Knueppel: No. 19 national prospect in class of 2024
Tyrese Proctor: No. 3 point guard in class of 2022
Sion James: Transfer from Tulane (2024)
Khaman Maluach: No. 4 national prospect in class of 2024
Isaiah Evans: No. 15 national prospect in class of 2024
Caleb Foster: No. 24 national prospect in class of 2023
Mason Gillis: Transfer from Purdue (2024)
Maliq Brown: Transfer from Syracuse (2024)
Patrick Ngongba II: No. 24 national prospect in class of 2024

Duke wasn't just built by high school recruiting, it stockpiled this elite roster with four players who weren't even in college last year. Flagg, Maluach, Knueppel and Evans were all top-20 national recruits last year with the electric Flagg ranked first overall.

Flagg, Maluach and Knueppel especially have shone lately, combining for an absurd 51 points, 23 rebounds and nine assists in the Elite Eight versus Alabama. Proctor has been on campus for three years as a highly touted recruit from Australia and has made an eye-popping 64% of his 27 triples in the NCAA Tournament.

The Blue Devils dipped into the portal for some depth pieces, grabbing James, Gillis, and Brown to add some experience to the young roster.

Head coach: Jon Scheyer

Coach K who? OK, we aren't at that level, but Scheyer has barely missed a beat as the program's new frontman after Mike Krzyzewski retired. The former star guard has now won at least 27 games in each of his first three years as coach and sports an incredible 48-12 mark in ACC play. Coming off an Elite Eight appearance last year, a title in Scheyer's third season would beat Krzyzewski by a wide margin as the legendary coach didn't win his first national championship until Year 11.

Houston

L.J. Cryer: Transfer from Baylor (2023)
Emanuel Sharp: No. 35 shooting guard in class of 2022
Milos Uzan: Transfer from Oklahoma (2024)
J'Wan Roberts: No. 42 power forward in class of 2019
Ja'Vier Francis: No. 32 center in class of 2021
Terrance Arceneaux: No. 18 small forward in class of 2022
Mylik Wilson: Transfer from Texas Tech (2023)

Houston has built largely through high school recruiting along with key transfer portal additions during Kelvin Sampson's time with the program, and that's no different this time around. After bringing in Cryer from Baylor prior to last season, the Cougars poached Uzan from Oklahoma to add another lethal offensive option to this year's roster. Either part of that duo has led Houston in scoring in each of the four NCAA Tournament games thus far with Uzan providing the epic game-winner versus Purdue in the Sweet 16.

The Cougars are also a vastly experienced roster with Roberts, Sharp, and Francis having been with the program for a combined 12 seasons. Houston leans heavily on the forward tandem of Roberts and Francis to provide crucial rim protection and rebounding.

The other key contributors for this year's roster include another from the class of 2022 in Arceneaux and 2023 transfer Wilson.

Head coach: Kelvin Sampson

Sampson's first college head coaching job came in 1981 before Golden and Scheyer were even born. Houston represents his fourth Division I head coaching stop - a position he's held since 2014.

After the Phi Slama Jama era produced three consecutive Final Four appearances in the early 1980s, the program had fallen on hard times prior to Sampson's hire. The Cougars made just one NCAA Tournament in the 22 years before he arrived, but they have risen to national prominence once again under his watch.