CBB With Danny Z: Sweet 16/Elite 8 Lookback, Final Four Preview

PublishedApril 1, 2025 5:38 PM EDT•UpdatedApril 1, 2025 5:38 PM EDT

This feels a bit like Super Bowl week, and that's both good and bad. The good news is that we have the best four teams in the country competing for the National Championship this weekend. The bad news is that it means the end of the college basketball season is almost here. That makes me sad.

Have thoughts on college basketball that you want to share? Shoot me an email at dan.zaksheske@outkick.com or a tweet @RealDanZak.

The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight lacked excitement, except for a few games

East Region

I'm going to start with the East region because… well, because I was there and watched all three games. Unfortunately, only one of them was any good. That was the Sweet 16 match between Duke and Arizona.

Caleb Love went off and, at one point in the second half, he scored 15 straight points for the Wildcats and eventually cut the Duke lead to five points with a minute-and-a-half to go. Love had a game-high 35 in his final college basketball game.

But it didn't matter. Duke is a machine, and it ended up winning before completely rolling Alabama in the Elite Eight (after Bama destroyed BYU). The Blue Devils didn't trail for one second during the match against the Crimson Tide. Alabama couldn't match Duke's size, and that's going to be a problem for every team left in the NCAA Tournament.

Midwest Region

OutKick's Trey Wallace did an excellent job covering the Midwest Region for OutKick, and I'm not going to provide better coverage than he did.

From Wallace's story on Houston's dominating win over Tennessee in the Elite Eight:

"Houston not only clinched a spot in the Final Four next weekend, but it held the Tennessee Volunteers to the lowest point total by a top-2 seed in the first half of an NCAA Tournament game in history, as the Cougars cruised, 69-50, in the Elite Eight.

Houston Cougars forward J'Wan Roberts reacts with guard Milos Uzan after the team's Elite Eight win over the Tennessee Volunteers in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

(Trevor Ruszkowski/Imagn Images)

"Inside Lucas Oil Stadium, it was the same type of away-game atmosphere that Houston faced Friday night when playing Purdue. By my guesstimation, 95% of the stadium was filled with fans clad in orange. But, that didn’t stop the small Houston section from bringing the noise, just as their team did on the court."

Houston also had the perfect play drawn up to beat Purdue in the Sweet 16.

The Cougars now face Duke in the Final Four in what should be an interesting game between two teams with contrasting styles.

South Region

Auburn completed the No. 1 seed sweep with a win over Michigan State in the final game of the Elite Eight, but the biggest story is the health of SEC Player of the Year Johni Broome.

Again, I defer to my colleague Trey Wallace:

"A quiet panic ensued for the Auburn coaching staff during the second half after Johni Broome went down with apparent elbow and leg injuries. You could feel the silence inside State Farm Arena in Atlanta as Auburn fans started shifting their focus from the game against Michigan State, after the Tigers won 70-64, to the health of their star player," Wallace wrote.

Broome returned to the game, despite saying "I'm done" as he was led to the locker room by trainers. However, he was clearly in pain for the rest of the game.

Auburn cruised through the NCAA Tournament, winning its first three games all by at least 12 points. And, sure, the Spartans stayed with the Tigers and only lost by six, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Auburn only trailed for 22 seconds in the game.

They've been a dominant force, but if Johni Broome isn't 100%, that's going to be a massive disadvantage against the Gators. That's focus No. 1 for the Tigers right now.

West Region

This region featured arguably two of the best games of the entire NCAA Tournament. First, Texas Tech came back with a late flurry to topple Arkansas in overtime to win the Sweet 16 matchup.

Then, Tech got a dose of its own medicine when Florida survived in the Elite Eight with an insane late-game comeback over Tech. But that only happened because of one of the best coaching decisions of the Big Dance.

Florida Gators guard Will Richard and guard Walter Clayton Jr. celebrate after defeating the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Elite Eight of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

(Kyle Terada/Imagn Images)

With 2:50 remaining, Florida's Thomas Haugh hit a 3-pointer to cut the Texas Tech lead to six points. Three seconds after the Red Raiders inbounded the ball, Florida purposefully committed a foul in the backcourt on Red Raiders forward Darrion Williams.

Because that was Florida's eighth team foul of the second half, Williams went to the line to shoot one-and-one. He missed the front end and that's when Walter Clayton hit the first of his two huge 3s.

On the ensuing Texas Tech position, Florida again purposefully fouled. This time, they didn't do it immediately, but waited until JT Toppin – a 68% free-throw shooter who was 0 for 4 from the line in the game at that point – touched the ball.

The Gators fouled him, and he, like Williams, missed the first free throw, giving the ball back to Florida. That's when Clayton hit the go-ahead 3, and the Gators never trailed again.

A coaching clinic from Todd Golden and that's a big reason why the Gators are heading into the Final Four and a rematch with Auburn.

Previewing the all-number-one-seed Final Four of the 2025 NCAA Tournament

Florida vs. Auburn

As mentioned, the biggest story coming into the first Final Four game is the health of Auburn star Johni Broome. If Broome is good to go, this should be an incredible game.

These two teams met earlier in the season, at Auburn, and the Gators pulled off the road win. The final score, 90-81, isn't indicative of how much Florida dominated the game. At one point in the second half, the Gators led by 21 points.

Auburn Tigers guard Chad Baker-Mazara and guard Denver Jones celebrate during the 2025 NCAA tournament.

(Dale Zanine/Imagn Images)

Auburn led the game in the first half, 15-5, which meant Florida went on a 63-32 run. Obviously, the Tigers can ill-afford to have such a terrible stretch if they have visions of reaching the National Championship.

Duke vs. Houston

It's hard to see a team beating Duke in the NCAA Tournament. Having watched the Ble Devils play two games in Newark, they don't have a weakness. They're big, long, athletic and fast. They shoot well, play defense, and have an excellent transition game.

What makes this a fascinating matchup is that we have the No. 1 offensive team in the country, Duke, against the #1 defensive team in the country, Houston. Of course, Duke is no slouch in the defensive department (fourth in the country) and Houston has a Top 10 offense.

Duke Blue Devils guard Tyrese Proctor talks with forward Cooper Flagg during the 2025 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.

(Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images)

The one factor working in Houston's favor is experience. Their two best players – J'Wan Roberts, L.J. Cryer – are in their fifth seasons of college basketball. Two of their starters – Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan – are juniors. They have only one underclassman starter, and that's Joseph Tugler, a sophomore.

On the other side, Duke is leaning heavily on youth. Obviously, superstar Cooper Flagg is a freshman. So, too, is their other star, Kon Knueppel. Their best interior player, 7'2" Khaman Maluach, is also a first-year player.

Not only is Maluach in his first season in college basketball, the South Sudanese-born center didn't start playing basketball until he was 13.

The Blue Devils will lean heavily on the experience of their other two starters, Tyrese Proctor (junior) and Sion James (senior). Proctor is the only starter who has played multiple seasons at Duke. James is a Tulane transfer who entered the program prior to this year.

Despite the youth, Duke is clearly the more talented squad. Can Houston's experience give them a crucial edge? That's the question heading into Saturday night.

Worst betting beat of the Sweet 16 & Elite Eight…

I covered this already over the weekend, but there are some questions about whether the worst beat of the weekend was actually a bad beat.

Michigan State beat Ole Miss in the Sweet 16 on Friday night, 73-70. The spread entering the game was Ole Miss +3.5, so they covered.

But they did so with a meaningless buzzer-beating three-pointer. Not only did the shot drop, but the shot was made by a player shooting 31.5% from three on the season, came from near the Sweet 16 logo and bounced off the backboard and rim before dropping.

On the surface, this looks like a classic bad beat. Michigan State bettors feeling pretty good up six points with Ole Miss inbounding from under its own basket with four seconds left.

A shot that had no business dropping falls to hit the backdoor cover. It's gross, there's no question.

That being said, Ole Miss bettors probably deserved to cover this one. The Rebels led for the majority of the game, with Michigan State not getting its first lead until midway through the second half.

When the Spartans took a four-point lead with 40 seconds left, it was their biggest lead of the game at that point. Meaning that prior to the layup that extended the lead to four, Ole Miss had been covering the spread for 39 minutes and 20 seconds.

Add it all up, and Michigan State was covering the spread for a grand total of 30 seconds the entire game.

Yeah, it sucks that they lost the cover on a meaningless buzzer-beater. But, quite frankly, they should never have covered in the first place. Sometimes the betting gods reward the right side, and that's what happened there.

Some of OutKick's great college basketball coverage over the past week.

Roundball Roundup…

Alabama head coach Nate Oats knew exactly who his Elite Eight opponent was going to be… even before the Sweet 16 finished…

It's probably not a good idea to let it be known you're planning to leave your current job while your team is headed to the Sweet 16…

There are headlines and then there are HEADLINES…

Good luck reading this chart showing all the players in the transfer portal…

That's it for me this week. We've got just three games left in the NCAA Tournament, and they have the potential to be some of the best games of the year.

Want to see something included in a future "CBB With Danny Z"? Shoot me an email at dan.zaksheske@outkick.com or a tweet @RealDanZak.