It all comes down to this: two teams from a field of 68, both vying for the NCAA men’s basketball National Championship, each chasing that elusive ‘one shining moment.’ (Any basketball fan knows exactly what that means).
March Madness has lived up to the hype again, with a Final Four packed with #1 seeds delivering us the Florida Gators vs the Houston Cougars for the National Championship title.
Who has the best National Championship odds? Who will steal the spotlight when the entire country’s eyes are on the final game of March Madness?
Read on for the NCAA men’s championship final basketball preview and find out where some of your best bets should go.
View the latest NCAAB odds at Bovada
Florida (-115) vs Houston (-105)
The final game of the college basketball season features a mix of styles that should be perfect for every hoops fan.
The March Madness odds for both teams are the closest we’ve seen pretty much all tournament, with the money slightly favoring the Gators at -115 currently.
It comes down to the Gators and their offense taking on a nasty Cougars defense.
Florida averaged over 85 points in their five March Madness wins to get to the National Championship Game.
Houston, meanwhile, held opposing teams to just under 59 points across their five W’s on the road to the NCAA championship.
Oddsmakers are clearly looking at Houston to set the tone, even though the edge is currently Florida’s for the National Championship odds.
With the Over/Under at 141 and a tiny spread of -1.0., this means that the Gators would need to score at least 13 points fewer than what they’ve averaged so far in the tournament.
Can the Cougars manage that much of a swing?
Tough call. They barely beat Duke in the Final Four to get to the final game, and it depends on how you look at it. Did the Blue Devils choke, barely scoring in the final 10 minutes of that game? Or did Houston simply dominate and suffocate them like they did all season with almost every opponent en route to a 35-4 record?
With well over 200 National Championship bets available at Bovada, there are plenty of opportunities to pick your favorite plays towards a potentially big win. Get into all the action now for the last NCAA men’s basketball game until Fall.
But first, let’s get deeper into each team for this National Championship preview…
HOUSTON
L.J. Cryer is the biggest, most recognizable name on a Cougars roster that doesn’t have a ton of stars.
Cryer is having a superb tournament. He was bottled up for just 5 points in the Elite Eight against Purdue, but in his four other games, he averaged 22 points, including hanging 26 on the Blue Devils in the Final Four. He’s consistently shown the ability to hit big shots too – a must-have under the primetime Monday night lights.
Behind Cryer, J’Wan Roberts emerged during March Madness as one of Houston’s biggest stars, and for good reason. He helped contain Duke’s Cooper Flagg in the crucial closing minutes of their Final Four game, and he hit two clutch free throws to put the Cougars ahead in the final minute. That clutch coolness under intense pressure can only be a good thing in the biggest game of the NCAA basketball season.
The Cougars face challenges with offensive depth. While Emanuel Sharp scored 16 on Saturday, the team relied too much on Cryer for offense. If Florida’s dominant frontcourt can contain his drives, it could spell trouble for Houston.
Basketball betting fans have to wonder though: with the Cougars able to shut down Duke and its three All-America players for the entire final 10 minutes in their Final Four win, how could they possibly lose to a Gators squad that doesn’t have a name like Cooper Flagg in their lineup?
FLORIDA
Florida’s answer? Walter Clayton Jr., that’s how.
The Gators’ guard probably has the Most Outstanding Player award for this year’s March Madness tournament wrapped up already, even before the National Championship game begins.
Clayton Jr. was electric in March, seemingly getting hotter as the pressure heats up with every big game. He’s the main reason the Gators have the edge when it comes to their March Madness odds heading into the final game of the tournament.
He scored 34 points in their Final Four win over Auburn, a clear sign that the big spotlight just seems to warm him up. He’s averaging over 24 points per game in the tournament and has gone off for 30+ points in both of his last two game.
Florida’s biggest concern is the notorious Cougars’ D. Their intense pressure has strangled stellar guards all season, and all their smoke will be directed at Clayton Jr. for the big title game.
This does mean some scoring opportunities for Will Richard, though. The Florida star has had a subpar tournament, but he can get hot with his treys. He averaged 38% from three-point range during the regular season. If Richard can start hitting like he knows how to, the Gators could take a bite out of the Cougars’ menacing D.
The same goes for Alijah Martin, the Gators’ explosive guard who should benefit from all the attention that Houston gives to Clayton Jr. If you saw his thunderous jam against Auburn last weekend, you know Martin can give his teammates a huge boost in a second.
Beyond the jams, Martin has been consistent throughout the March Madness tournament, averaging double digits in all five games they’ve played to get to the title match. The talented Senior is also gunning for his last chance at a National Championship title, so you know he will come out firing.
Overall, it’s the closest National Championship title game for many good reasons.
It’s Florida’s size down low and the Walter Clayton Jr. factor combining for 80+ points per game versus the constant grind of the Houston defense, plus the skills of L.J. Cryer.
Either way, we’re ready for all the Madness.
View the latest NCAAB odds at Bovada
Final Four (Last Week)
For just the second time since the March Madness tournament started in the 1970’s, all four #1 seeds will meet in the Final Four. It’s going to be epic.
Auburn, Duke, Houston, and Florida all have a legitimate shot at winning the National Championship in the coming days. So, which team has the best March Madness odds? While Duke is a popular favorite among NCAA basketball fans, all four teams are capable of getting hot or shutting down their opponents when it matters most.
All the latest March Madness odds and bets you need are right here at Bovada.
Read on for a Final Four betting preview…
Florida (-145) vs Auburn (+125)
The Florida Gators, more than any other team in the 2025 Final Four, can turn into a buzzsaw with some devastating runs.
They were down 9 points with just over three minutes to play against Texas Tech, but an 18-4 hot streak carried them to the Final Four. Florida also managed a crazy 53 points in less than 18 minutes in their first-round win and had 47 points in the second half of their Sweet Sixteen victory.
If the Gators pull off another run at the wrong time for the Tigers, watch out.
Of course, these runs begin and end with Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. The best guard in the nation is taking the March Madness One Shining Moment stuff seriously, as he continues to cook in every game.
Clayton is averaging over 22 points per game in the tournament, and he saved his best performance for the toughest test, pouring in 30 points against Texas Tech in the Tigers’ Elite Eight win. Looking for the bright side if you’re a Gators gambler? Clayton can be shut down – at least partially. Maryland held him to 13 points and 4 assists in their Sweet 16 matchup.
On the Auburn side, Johni Broome is why the Tigers’ March Madness odds to win-it-all have been so strong all season. Which is why his elbow issue last weekend – and 5-minute exit from the game – is cause for concern. The Tigers have been tight-lipped about it, and he did come back in for a few minutes, but betting fans might give this close Final Four battle to Florida based on Broome’s shaky status alone, even if he’s supposedly 100% at game time.
Fortunately for Auburn, they have players like Tahaad Pettiford to clean up if Broome isn’t fully ready. Pettiford hit Michigan and Creighton with 20 and 23 points, respectively. He is a freshman, so the nerves of the March Madness tournament might have gotten to him in the Elite Eight game against Michigan State, where he managed just 10 points. Or you might like the opposite view – as a frosh, he might not feel the weight of the game and just out and ball.
Fans of recent history will like Florida just based on the teams’ most recent matchup, an early February W for the Gators, a 90-81 win that also ended the Tigers’ 14-game winning streak.
In the end, Clayton’s clutch play – he drilled 3 trey’s to propel the Gators from a late hole to victory last weekend – should be the difference and it’s why Florida’s Final Four odds are just a bit stronger at -145 over Auburn’s +125.
Houston (+200) vs Duke (-240)
Being listed as the biggest favorite when it comes to March Madness odds, Duke enters their Final Four matchup against the Houston Cougars with a little swagger.
That swagger mainly comes from 18-year-old Cooper Flagg, of course, the likely player of the year in men’s college basketball. Flagg had a below-average scoring game in their Elite Eight win, with just 16 points, but he had 9 boards. And remember, he racked up 30 points just two days earlier in Duke’s Sweet 16 win.
But it’s not just a one-man show for Duke. The D also gets credit, fresh off a game against Alabama – who had just scored well over 100 points in its Sweet 16 game – where the Blue Devils held the Tide to just eight 3-pointers. Duke kept ‘Bama to just 65 points the entire game. If they can repeat that defensive performance against Houston, expect to see the Blue Devils in the National Championship Game next week.
And then there’s Duke’s Khaman Maluach and Kon Knueppel, both NBA-ready players. Knueppel, another freshman, led the Blue Devils in scoring in their most recent game with 21 points, with 20 points in their Sweet 16 win just days earlier.
With a super-low Over/Under of just 136.5 for the game, oddsmakers clearly expect the Cougars’ stifling defense to play a big role too. In the first half of last weekend’s game to punch their ticket to the Final Four, Houston held #2 Tennessee to an insanely low 15 points in their Elite Eight win.
But if you like Flagg to step up – and just watching the fearless freshman in his regular season NCAA hoops highlights you can see he’s at a different level already – it’s easy to see him going off in prime time. That could make the Over a pretty tempting play.
L.J. Cryer is Houston’s answer to Flagg. He went for 30 points earlier in the tournament against Gonzaga, and Cryer also has the added element of being hungry to win a title in his final season of college hoops.
While Duke is deeper, Houston also has Emanual Sharp to rely on if Cryer gets double-teamed too often. Sharp put up 16 points in their Elite Eight win last weekend, and he’s hit for double digits in 8 of the team’s last 9 games.
Houston is the underdog here, no question. But if Cryer gets close to 30 again – and when you factor in that Duke has not faced a defense in the top 15 since December, much less one that is the best in all of college basketball – the Cougars could be on the prowl for a shocking upset.
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