SAN JOSE, CALIF.—As March Madness is underway, are there any teams that are underperforming and any teams that have risen the ranks so far?

After seeing multiple teams’ hopes of winning the college championship crushed, only a handful of teams’ hopes are still alive, but have we seen a clear favorite to win it all yet? Duke might seem to be the obvious choice, but with Auburn, Houston, Alabama, and Florida still alive, who looks like the best team after making this far into March Madness to go to the Final Four?

After seeing the Elite Eight matchups to see who will make it to the Final Four, we saw Auburn take down Michigan State, Florida take down Texas Tech, Duke take down Alabama, and Houston take down Tennessee. Even though in my last article I mentioned Alabama having a chance at making it, they did lose in the Elite Eight against Duke, but Duke as well was a team I mentioned to make it to the championship, and now going into the Final Four, we can see the teams I referenced in my last article are all in the Final Four except Alamama like I said. With the Final Four being set, we have now seen for the first time since 2008 and for the second time in NCAA Tournament history the Final Four will be all No.1 seeds.

Although I did choose correctly with the teams making it to the Final Four, only two can make it to the championship, so who will it be? For the Florida Gators, Waltor Clayton Jr, the senior guard, has had a great March Madness and put up 30 in points in the Gators’ win against Texas Tech. Whereas for Auburn, their senior forward Johni Broome has been doing great and putting up 25 in the win over MI State. Although Auburn has been doing great, I see them being taken out by the Florida Gators. It can definitely go either way, but I just feel the Gators have the upper hand. 

For Houston, as I said in my last article, they don’t have a true star but are a well-rounded team with a lot of depth. Their senior guard, LJ Cryer, who led the team in points this year, led the team in points in their game against Tennessee with 17 points, and although it is not a jaw-dropping amount, it is the reason this team has gotten so far because everyone is scoring. Duke, however, has definitely gotten their star player Cooper Flagg, the freshman forward who is already seen as the best player in College Basketball this year and is favored to be the Number one overall pick for the 2025 NBA Draft. 

Freshman Sergio Hernandez said, “I want Florida to win this year, but I think Cooper Flagg will win it for Duke.” Although Flagg only put up 16 points against Alabama, he was one rebound shy of getting a double-double, showing how effective he can be on both sides of the ball and the game before that put up 30 points against Arizona. I am not saying Houston doesn’t have a chance, but I think Duke will be too much for them and take the win. With now predicting the final four, we will be left with Florida and Duke. 

Hernandez said, “I want Florida to win this year, but I think Cooper Flagg will win it for Duke.”  I agree with Hernandez, as although it could go either way, I think Duke will win because Cooper Flagg will just be too much for them.