Bet the National Championship Odds! The 2024-25 college basketball season comes to an end Monday night from the Alamodome in San Antonio as top seeds Houston of the Big 12 and Florida of the SEC face off in the national championship game with the Gators as slight favorites on the NCAAB odds. These schools have only met twice previously and not since the 1970s.
The Gators reach the national championship for the fourth time, holding a 2-1 record, while Houston is 0-2 in title games. Houston has seven Final Four appearances without a title, the most in Division I history.
| Opening Spread/Totals Subject to Change: Florida -1 (total 141) Expert Prediction: Florida 72, Houston 70 |
How to Bet Florida vs. Houston National Championship Odds: MyBookie March Madness & TV Info
Madness Lines subject to change: Houston -105 / Florida -116
When: Monday, 8:50 PM ET
Where: Alamodome, San Antonio
TV: CBS
Stream: Paramount+
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Houston’s Kelvin Sampson vs. Florida’s Todd Golden coaching matchup has a 30-year age gap and it will be the second largest gap in national title history. Sampson at age 69 would be the oldest head coach in history to win it all and Golden at age 39 would be the youngest to do it since Jim Valvano in 1983.
If wondering about common opponents, the Gators faced a Big 12 team in the Elite Eight and beat Texas Tech 84-79. Houston lost at home to Texas Tech in overtime, 82-81, on Feb. 1. That’s the last time the Cougars lost a game. But they got payback vs. the Red Raiders on Feb. 24 with a 69-61 road win in Lubbock.
Houston played SEC school Tennessee in the Elite Eight and routed the Vols by 19. Florida crushed visiting Tennessee by 30 on Jan. 7 but then the Gators were blown out themselves, 64-44, on Feb. 1 in the rematch in Knoxville.
^Gators Have Won 17 Of Past 18
Florida, a 2.5-point favorite, defeated Auburn 79-73 in the Final Four, marking its 11th straight win. Walter Clayton Jr. led with 34 points, scoring 20 in the second half, as the Gators overcame a halftime deficit and continued their impressive NCAA Tournament performance.
Walter Clayton Jr.
Clayton’s 34 points in the Final Four surpassed Udonis Haslem’s 27 in 2000, marking a program record. He also broke Florida’s single-season scoring record with 702 points, overtaking Andy Owens’ 676, and set a new NCAA Tournament record for the Gators with 123 points.
Clayton scored 30 points in an Elite Eight win against Texas Tech, who led by nine with 3:14 left, becoming the first since Larry Bird to achieve this in both rounds.
Will Richard
“I feel like everybody sees it,” Florida guard Richard said after Saturday’s game. “He’s poised, calm and collected, confident in himself. We have that confidence in him. We see him practice. We see his work ethic. We’re glad everybody else is getting to see him do it in a game.”
In UF’s eight postseason games (3 wins in the SEC Tournament, 5 wins in the NCAA Tournament), Clayton has averaged 23.1 points, shot 49.1% from the floor, hit 49.2% of his 63 3-point attempts and 88% of his 52 free throws.
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Cougars On 18-Game Winning Streak
Houston (35-4) trailed Duke by 14 in the second half on Saturday but staged a stunning rally for a 70-67 victory – Duke had been 79-0 all-time under Coach Jon Scheyer when leading by at least 11 points in a game. Led by forward Joseph Tugler’s four blocks and the nation’s top defense, Houston held Duke to a grand total of one field goal over the last 10 1/2 minutes of this game. The 67 points were the Blue Devils’ second-lowest output of the season.
UH held Duke to 37.5% shooting in the second half; that was nearly 20% lower than its first four games of the tournament, which included a blowout over the nation’s best offense, Alabama, in the Elite Eight. The Cougars finished with six steals and six blocked shots. The key for Houston came from leaving big man J’Wan Roberts alone on Duke Flagg, something it didn’t do early in the game.
Flagg picked the Cougars apart with his passing, and they made an adjustment to let Roberts handle the matchup by himself. The Cougars beat Duke on the glass by 11, turning 18 offensive rebounds into 19 second chance points.
Kelvin Sampson
“We said here at halftime we’re going to trust J’Wan,” Coach Sampson said. “He’s doing a heck of a job in his one-on-ones against Cooper. We’re probably over-helping. … I thought he did an awesome job of getting his hands up high enough that it wasn’t an easy look. Some tough shots all night.”
^Bet National Championship Odds & Expert Prediction
For the 11th time in NCAA Tournament history, two No. 1 seeds will meet for the national title. Both schools erased overall deficits of at least nine points and at least six points at halftime in the Final Four, marking the first-ever national semifinals in which both winning teams erased a halftime deficit of at least six points.
Houston refused to break against a Duke team that had been favored to win the national title for months. The No. 1 defensive team in America played like the No. 1 defensive team in that victory. Houston enjoys one of the nation’s leading 3-point and free-throw shooting backcourts.
LJ Cryer
Cryer (3.0, 41.9%), who had 26 points Saturday, and Emanuel Sharp (2.4, 41.5%) are among the Big 12 leaders in 3-point field goals per game and 3-point field goal percentage. In addition, both Cougars also shoot over 87.0 percent from the free throw line with Sharp standing fourth in the Big 12 at 87.6. The Gators rank No. 5 nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (38.9%). The team that wins the battle inside the paint will likely be the last team standing Monday.
UH’s Sampson is one of the best coaches in the sport who has yet to win a national title, and a win for the Cougars would go a long way for his legacy and cement him as one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history. But we think his team comes up short.
What Florida has beyond its depth is its versatility and plenty of size. Bigs Alex Condon, Reuben Chinyelu, Thomas Haugh and Micah Handlogten proved too much in the end for Auburn star Johni Broome and will prove too much for Houston as well. Florida 72, Houston 70.
^NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS
— MyBookie – Bet With The Best (@MyBookie) April 7, 2025
Houston (-105) vs Florida (-1)
O/U 141
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