Every year, the excitement and rush of March Madness puts fans on edge. Fans create brackets to predict which teams win and advance through each division. This year, I decided to create my own bracket, but I did not have much knowledge of college basketball.
Now that we are in the Final Four rounds, I will make my prediction as to who will make it to the Championship game – with a little research.
Sweet 16
All the Sweet 16 games were played on March 27 and 28. Auburn, Michigan St., Duke, BYU, Florida, Texas Tech, Houston, and Tennessee moved on to the Elite Eight Round.
Elite Eight
In the Elite Eight, Auburn competed against Michigan St. and won 70-64. Duke came out with a win over Alabama 85-65. Florida and Tech went head to head, with Florida taking the win 84-79. Houston and Tennessee competed, with Houston winning 69-50. This means that Auburn, Duke, Florida, and Houston are in the Final Four.
The Final Four
This year, all teams ranked number one in their conference ended up making it to the Final Four. Auburn will go against Florida on April 5 at 5:09 p.m. The same day, Houston and Duke will compete at 7:49 p.m. The winners of this round will move on to the championship game.
When looking at the stats, Florida has more average points per game (85.4) and than Auburn which has an average point per game of 83.2. When it comes to shooting averages per game, both teams have very close averages, but overall, Florida has the highest percentage in field goals, 3-pointers, and free throws. Florida’s overall record is 34-4, and 14-4 in their Conference. Auburn’s overall is 32-5 and and 15-3 in their Conference. Out of these two teams, though, I will be rooting for Florida to make it to the Championship.
For Duke’s and Houston’s stats, Duke’s average points per game is 83.7, while Houston’s is 74.0. Overall, it looks like Duke has a higher average in shooting average per game in field goals, 3-pointers, and free throws. Duke’s overall record is 35-3, with 19-1 in its conference. Houston’s overall record is 34-4 and 19-1 in its conference. Based on these stats, I think Duke will be the team to move on to the Championship game.
Championships
I think that Florida will take the win over Duke in the Championship round. Based on the stats, Florida takes the lead in average points per game, and Florida’s overall is 34-4, and Duke’s is 35-3. Florida has won the Championship game only twice, in 2006 and 2007. Duke has walked away with five Championship wins in the past. The last time Duke won was in 2015. Since, Duke has had more Championship wins than Florida, Duke might have an advantage and win. Florida’s Walter Clayton has spectators believing that he helped lead the team to the Final Four. He has scored 668 points overall so far. Duke’s top shooter, Cooper Flagg, scored a total of 682 points overall.
In my bracket, I chose Florida as the ultimate champion, but after doing further research, I believe Duke will take the win.
The Championship game will take place Monday, April 7 at 7:50 p.m. Then we will see who takes the win for the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball season.
