The Final Four is one of the greatest sporting events in the world, and that fact was on full display in this year’s Men’s Final Four in San Antonio, Texas.
This year’s edition of college basketball’s biggest weekend was filled with intrigue and excitement as four stacked one-seeds went toe-to-toe in the Alamodome. The 2025 Final Four will go down as an all-time classic, and that’s because of one-seed matchups.
According to Nielsen, this year’s men’s Final Four attracted an average of 15.3 million viewers per game. That figure marked the best ratings for the men’s Final Four since 2017 and was up 19 percent from last season. The Duke-Houston game was the most-watched of the 2025 tournament and beat out every game from last year’s tournament.
Everyone loves the Cinderella stories of the first and second rounds. There’s nothing like watching a Thursday afternoon NCAA tournament game where a mid-major team from a tiny town knocks off one of the best teams in the country.
That’s great for the early rounds when dozens of teams are facing off. However, the Final Four stands alone with all eyes on the tournament’s last four standing. The best thing for the Final Four is to have top-seeded teams facing off in a battle of Goliaths, not a no-name team.
It’s not that mid-majors don’t make good stories, but they don’t make good competition in the modern age of college basketball. College basketball is becoming more top-heavy because of NIL, making it nearly impossible for a mid-major to compete. That means top talent goes to top programs with deep enough pockets to give them NIL deals.
This year’s Final Four saw top-seeded Auburn, Florida, Duke and Houston face off, all teams with deep NIL pockets. Auburn-Florida and Duke-Houston matched up well with star-studded rosters led by talented coaches. It’s clear we saw the best Final Four possible.
First, the tournament’s top seed, Auburn, took on Florida in an all-SEC matchup of two of the conference’s best to start the day. Florida senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. was stellar all night and scored a team-high 34 points with five made 3-pointers on just eight attempts.
“I’m just thankful, man,” Clayton Jr. said. “Obviously Florida basketball has a great history. I grew up watching it. Obviously we got T. Green on the staff to tell us about the experiences. Just a great feeling to go out there and win games.”
Clayton Jr.’s amazing performance is even more impressive when considering that sophomore center Reuben Chinyelu, the next best scorer for the Gators, scored just 17.
While the first game was exciting, the following game was one we’ll be talking about for years to come. The biggest storyline in college basketball this season has been Duke freshman forward Cooper Flagg.
“But knowing going into that game he’s the Player of the Year, brought his team to the Final Four,” Houston senior forward J’Wan Roberts said. “We know it was going to be challenging. But the main thing was just to make him shoot contested jump shots, make him as uncomfortable as ever.”
Houston was down 34-28 at the half, and things didn’t look good for the Cougars late in the second as they trailed 56-42 with just under 12 minutes left. Then, Duke made just one shot in the final 10 and a half minutes but held onto a seven-point lead with 1:15 remaining.
The final minute was poetry as Houston scored the final nine points of the game to win 70-67. The Blue Devils and their star freshman were shocked, and surely the entire nation was as well.
It’s hard to describe just how incredible this year’s Final Four was. Both games saw fireworks galore and a high level of competition. The same couldn’t be said if a Cinderella team somehow snuck in.
I can’t imagine how a mid-major could’ve kept up with Flagg or scored against Houston’s cutthroat defense. Duke, Florida and Auburn all came into the tournament without a loss to a team outside of the Power Four. These teams were stacked, and that made the Final Four so much better.
Houston was the only team with a mid-major loss at the hands of San Diego State back in November 2024 and then went an incredible 19-1 in the Big 12. No one was knocking off the one-seeds this year.
The amazing Final Four even lined up an amazing matchup between Florida and Houston in the national championship game. The Florida-Houston bout was far more competitive than when San Diego State got crushed by UConn in 2023 or when Gonzaga got crushed by Baylor in 2021.
There’s a place for Cinderella stories in the NCAA tournament. That shouldn’t change. However, when it comes time for the Final Four, there’s no better scenario than powerhouse one seeds.
