All chalk, no problem: 2025 might be best Final Four ever
Nobody out there is going to tell you college basketball is in a perfect place.
From unregulated NIL that strays far from what it was supposed to be, to a transfer portal that's currently filled with over 1,000 players, there are a number of issues facing the sport. We even saw multiple coaches going into tournament games with everyone knowing that they were leaving for a different job the minute their team was eliminated.
But we can all agree that this Final Four is still really cool.
It's fitting that a year in which one double-digit seed made it through the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament ends with just the second Final Four ever to feature all four No. 1 seeds.
It's a very stark contrast to just two years ago, when the Final Four somehow featured No. 4 UConn as the top seed in the semis. The eventual-champion Huskies were joined by two No. 5 seeds in Miami and San Diego State, along with a major underdog in No. 9 Florida Atlantic. UConn always seemed like the only team that could actually win the title, and that rang true with blowouts in both the semifinal and title game.
In a world where not all top seeds are created equal, this year's crop stands out as unusually even-matched and a level above the rest of the country. That's the opposite of last year, when defending champion UConn was clearly more polished than the rest of the field and even beat fellow No. 1 seed Purdue by double-digits in the title game.
This year's quartet isn't just better than the other 360 teams at the Division I level but ranks higher than almost all other college basketball teams from the last 28 years, according to the vaunted KenPom efficiency ratings. Pomeroy has all four squads from this Final Four inside his all-time top 10, with Duke at No. 2, Houston at No. 6, Florida at No. 8, and Auburn at No. 10. Again, this is a man who has been ranking teams since 1997.
In fact, this is the first time the Final Four has ever featured the top four teams in KenPom's rankings for a season.
| Team | Offensive rating | Defensive rating | Overall rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 1st | 4th | 1st |
| Houston | 10th | 1st | 2nd |
| Florida | 2nd | 10th | 3rd |
| Auburn | 3rd | 8th | 4th |
That represents quite a significant change from those who made up the Final Four recently. Last year, Alabama ranked 14th overall in KenPom's list while Cinderella team NC State was way back in 45th spot. The 2023 version saw only UConn fall inside the top 12 teams in the country. Weird things can always happen in a one-game elimination format, but the longer the underdog sticks around, the more chance there is of an eventual stinker in a big spot.
The first thing that stands out from this year's chart is just how balanced all four teams are in both offense and defense.
Houston's offense is 10th out of 364 teams - an incredible ranking until you look at the other three teams still in play. However, to balance out the slight inferiority of their offense, the Cougars lean on the best defense in the sport. Their blockbuster head-to-head battle with Duke in the semis will be a best-on-best matchup of offense versus defense.
The two teams met in the tournament last season, and while Duke advanced narrowly, it's safe to say defense was the big winner with a final score of just 54-51. Both teams have drastically improved on offense since then, so it's hard to see a repeat affair occurring Saturday.
The other semifinal is the SEC showdown of Auburn versus Florida - a fitting matchup given the conference had a record seven teams in the Sweet 16 this year.
Florida's two close calls in the tournament may worry some, but we choose to look at them as opportunities for the nation to get comfortable with Walter Clayton Jr. as he does his best Steph Curry impression. The senior guard has seemingly been unconscious down the stretch, going 6-for-8 with five 3-pointers in the final five minutes of his team's wins over UConn and Texas Tech. He's also very familiar with Auburn after a 19-point, nine-assist showing in a road win versus the Tigers earlier in the year.
Auburn's star situation is much less clear heading into Saturday. Johni Broome is undoubtedly the man for the Tigers, but his status remains unclear after the awkward fall he took in the Elite Eight. When healthy, there's no player more dominant in the sport than the bruising forward.
With four elite teams, the senior stardom of Clayton and Broome, the tenacious Houston defense, and the electric Duke freshman trio of Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach, it's must-see television this weekend.
And the problems facing college basketball will still be there begging for a fix on Tuesday.