March Madness Final Four set: teams and matchups in 2025 NCAA Men’s D1 basketball

March Madness 2025 has delivered something the NCAA Tournament hasn’t seen in nearly two decades: all four No. 1 seeds are heading to the Final Four. And would you believe it, it’s happened at the exact same place as the last time — San Antonio’s Alamodome.

Who and when is the 2025 March Madness Final Four?

Auburn’s gritty win over (2) Michigan State on Monday night sealed it. The Tigers, making just their second-ever trip to the Final Four, overcame a heart-in-throat moment when star senior Johni Broome crumpled to the floor midway through the second half. After a trip to the locker room for X-rays, Broome came storming back, draining a momentum-shifting 3-pointer that helped close out the Spartans 70-64. He finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds, because of course he did.

Auburn’s reward is a Saturday semifinal showdown with SEC rivals (1) Florida, a program that’s been balancing dominance with chaos all March.

Walter Clayton Jr. bailed Florida out in the Elite Eight, dropping 30 points on Texas Tech, including eight clutch ones in the final two minutes. His late-game calm brought the Gators back from a double-digit second-half deficit. Now Florida is back in the Final Four for the first time in over a decade.

While Auburn and Florida have had to fight their way through the muck, Houston has bulldozed its way through the bracket the old-fashioned way with an aggressive defense. The Cougars held Tennessee to 15 first-half points in their Elite Eight blowout, which is the lowest for a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament history.

Houston’s path hasn’t been easy — Purdue, Gonzaga, Tennessee — but none of those teams managed to crack 70 points. Coach Kelvin Sampson’s squad hasn’t lost on the road all year and now makes its third Final Four under his watch.

The Cougars face Duke, who has gone from “uh-oh, Cooper Flagg’s out” to “oh right, they’re Duke” in record time.

Flagg returned in the first round and the Blue Devils have mostly steamrolled since, leaning on a defense that ranks top-five nationally. The freshman sensation leads Duke in just about every category: points, rebounds, assists, and steals. But it’s the team’s collective defensive grit that’s defined their run to an 18th Final Four — and the first under head coach Jon Scheyer.

So here we are: Auburn, Florida, Duke, Houston. All 1-seeds. All punching tickets to San Antonio. The last — and only other — time this happened was 2008, as I said, also at the Alamodome. That year ended with Kansas cutting down the nets. This one? Still wide open.

You can catch both national semifinals on Saturday. But maybe keep your bracket away from open flames. It’s not needed anymore.

Men’s March Madness Final Four

The games are all set for Saturday April 5, 2025

• (1) Florida vs (1) Auburn, 6:09 p.m ET / 3:09 PT
• (1) Duke vs (1) Houston, 8:49 p.m. ET / 5:49 PT

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