It’s official: USC women’s basketball guard JuJu Watkins is the 2024-25 Wooden Award winner.

Watkins, who was announced as the winner of college basketball’s most prestigious award on Saturday, beat out UConn’s Paige Bueckers, UCLA’s Lauren Betts, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, Texas’ Madison Booker and Kentucky’s Georgia Amoore for the honor.

Watkins, a sophomore, led the Trojans to a 1-seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament, with USC making it to the Elite Eight before falling to UConn. Watkins didn’t play past the first weekend, however, as she suffered a season-ending ACL tear in her knee against Mississippi State in the second round.

‘I think this season was a real growth for me,’ Watkins said on ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ on Saturday. ‘I was able to learn so much. Just IQ-wise, growing and playing with Kiki Iriafen and so many great players around me forced me to kind of just level up and be a better player and teammate.’

Watkins averaged 23.9 points with 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game this season on 42.6% shooting. The 6-foot-2 Los Angeles native scored 30 points or more in seven games this season, including a 40-point showing against Cal Baptist in early December.

Watkins, who also won the Associated Press and Naismith player of the year awards this season, has certainly lived up to expectations after being the No. 1-ranked player in the 2023 recruiting class.

She hopes to recover from her injury and return to the women’s NCAA Tournament next season.

SAN ANTONIO – Amidst significant skepticism within college sports that the House vs. NCAA settlement will bring calm and order to the financial relationships between athletes and schools, NCAA president Charlie Baker said Saturday that the system outlined in the settlement will be “far better than what we are dealing with” if ultimately approved and implemented.

A final hearing on the settlement and various objections to the terms is set for Monday in front of U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken, but the NCAA expects and hopes it will be approved without significant changes.

The key element of the settlement with regard to the future structure of college sports is a revenue sharing agreement and a third-party clearinghouse that will police name, image and likeness deals to determine whether they are within the range of fair market value. The NCAA entered into an agreement recently with Deloitte to run the clearinghouse.

Some administrators and coaches have questioned whether it’s even possible to accurately gauge fair market value of NIL deals being offered to athletes and whether attempts to punish schools for trying to circumvent what amounts to a salary cap will spawn another round of lawsuits.

Baker said that having some structure around NIL and the ability to collect data about how much money schools are spending on their athletes in various sports will be beneficial to the overall environment.

“Right now we have nothing like that,” Baker said. “We don’t have any way to gauge or judge exactly what’s going on out there. It’s all anecdote and representation, which is not really very helpful if you’re trying to determine what’s really happening. At minimum, what we’re going to get out of this is two processes, both of which will have real elements to them around submission of information and approval. And over time, it will make it possible to aggregate that data.”

PREDICTIONS: Our experts forecast who wins Final Four semifinals

TOP SEEDS: Where does this Final Four rank with the best ever?

Of course, one of the reasons the settlement won’t necessarily protect the NCAA from being sued over various regulation attempts in the future is its inability to get Congressional action on an antitrust exemption or other law that would protect its model despite more than five years of intense lobbying.

Baker, the former governor of Massachusetts, was in fact hired to replace Mark Emmert largely because of his political background as college presidents increasingly saw lawmakers as their best path toward stability.

But no bill has been brought to the floor in either chamber of Congress despite multiple hearings on college sports, and it’s uncertain when or if there will eventually be a proposal that can pass the House of Representatives and get 60 votes in the Senate. The current political environment, with a closely divided partisan split and several hot-button issues dominating the conversation both domestically and abroad, probably does not lend itself college sports’ issues being a priority in Washington, D.C.

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try,” Baker said. “And sometimes interesting things happen. We spent a lot of time talking to people on both sides of the aisle, both branches, and in the privacy of their offices I think there is a path forward here. We’ll see if we can get there.”

On another topic, Baker said he had not seen the comments from Connecticut women’s coach Geno Auriemma late Friday night in which he blistered the NCAA for inequalities between the men’s and women’s tournament. Baker was aware of Auriemma’s criticism from several days ago about the women having just two host sites for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight as opposed to four.

Baker said the NCAA had spent over $15 million implementing the suggestions from a third-party review that came out of the 2021 controversy where clear inequalities were identified between the two events but said the two-regional system had been a success in his view because it had bolstered attendance at those venues.  

“It was a decision made by the full women’s basketball committee, which was to enhance attendance and improve the quality of the experience for the kids,” he said. “Attendance has improved dramatically over the last three years, and I can tell you playing it with a full house has is a lot of fun if you’re a student-athlete. The rest of the stuff around the student-athlete experience across the tournament, especially in the Final Four, people spent a lot of time working with third parties and working through the data to make sure that the experience was – it’s not all the same because there’s certain things about both tournaments that are different – but people do a lot of work on this and obviously we’re always open to additional thoughts and ideas.”

TAMPA, Fla. – The national championship matchup is set after commanding wins from South Carolina and UConn in the Final Four on Friday.

It’ll be a rematch of the 2022 NCAA Championship game on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, ABC) at Amalie Arena. The No. 1 seed Gamecocks (35-3) beat Texas 74-57, and the No. 2 seed Huskies (36-3) beat UCLA 85-51 to advance.

South Carolina beat UConn 64-49 in the 2022 final, the only other time they met in the championship game.

UConn handed the Gamecocks a 87-58 loss during the regular season, snapping their 71-game win streak in Columbia, South Carolina. It was also the largest margin in a home loss for South Carolina since 2008.

Here’s what you need to know about the rematch.

Battle of the freshmen: Joyce Edwards vs. Sarah Strong

The championship matchup with feature arguably the two best freshmen in the country. UConn’s Sarah Strong and South Carolina’s Joyce Edwards both play significant roles for their teams.

It’s no surprise the freshmen have helped lead their teams to the national championship game — there were signs a year ago of the dominance to come. Strong, the No. 1 recruit of the 2024 class, and Edwards, the No. 3 recruit in the 2024 class, were co-MVPs of the McDonald’s All-American game last April.

Strong is the second-leading scorer for the Huskies, behind senior star Paige Bueckers. The 6-foot-2 forward averages 16.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. Strong had 22 points, eight rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block Friday.

Edwards leads the Gamecocks in scoring off the bench. The 6-3 forward averages 12.7 points, five rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 21 minutes per game. Edwards bounced back from a three-game slump Friday, logging 13 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a steal.

Both players are confident with the ball in their hands and impact every area of the game. How each freshman performs in the first national championship game of their careers will heavily influence the outcome.

Can South Carolina become first repeat champion since 2016?

No team has repeated as national champions since UConn won four straight titles from 2013-16.

South Carolina had the chance to repeat during the 2022-23 season, but it fell in the Final Four. After going undefeated last season en route to their third national championship, the Gamecocks have another opportunity to repeat. They would become only the fourth program in NCAA history to win back-to-back national titles, joining an elite group with USC, Tennessee and UConn.

Some might look at the Final Four results and think UConn will blow out the Gamecocks again. But South Carolina was playing Texas for a fourth time this season, and it still won by 17 points.

South Carolina’s tournament run hasn’t been as dominant as last season’s, but the Gamecocks looked like a championship team again as they dismantled Texas on Friday.

Will Paige Bueckers leave UConn with a national championship?

If UConn doesn’t win Sunday, Paige Bueckers would leave the program as the only player to win National Player of the Year and not a national championship. She would be the best player by far to leave UConn without adding to the program’s 11 national titles.

Bueckers was hampered by injuries throughout her career, and her team as a whole has suffered injuries that prevented championship runs. But now, the Huskies have all the pieces to win a title, and they looked like it when they throttled UCLA on Friday.

Bueckers had a slower night offensively against the Bruins, scoring 16 points on 7-for-17 shooting, but she has been on a tear during the NCAA tournament. Going into the Final Four, Bueckers was averaging 29 points on 58.7% shooting. Even with a slower scoring night, Bueckers had 16 points, adding five rebounds, three steals and two assists.

South Carolina will have to contain Bueckers, who is more than capable of rising to another level with a championship on the line.

Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma square off in NCAA final again

The matchup is a clash between one of the original dynasties of women’s basketball and the one taking hold in the modern era. It’s also a coaching battle between two of the most accomplished coaches in the sport.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma was undefeated in national championship games before losing to South Carolina and Dawn Staley in 2022. He was 11-0 in NCAA finals prior to the loss, and now Staley holds the mantle of being undefeated in national championship games (3-0).

Auriemma holds a 9-5 overall head-to-head record against Staley. South Carolina has won four of the five last matchups with the Huskies, who won the first seven matchups against the Gamecocks under Staley.

Auriemma has won 11 national championships, but hasn’t won a title since 2016. Staley has won three NCAA championships, all of them since 2017.

March Madness continued Saturday with the men’s Final Four games from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.Florida is headed back to the NCAA Tournament national championship game for the first time since 2007 after a Final Four victory over SEC rival Auburn.

The Gators will play on Monday against the winner of Saturday’s second Final Four game, which pits No. 1 seed Duke against No. 1 seed Houston.

Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. entered the game leading the Gators with 18.1 points and 4.2 assists per game. The star was clutch in this game, dropping 34 points to lead the game’s scorers.

USA TODAY had full coverage of today’s Auburn vs. Florida game. Here are the scores, highlights and how it all went down:

Auburn vs. Florida final score, results

Florida defeat Auburn 79-73.

Florida came out strong with a scoring run that has helped keep the game close against Auburn. The Gators led Johni Broome and the Tigers with two minutes left in regulation after trailing by as many as nine points at halftime. The Tigers outscored the Gators 26-14 in the paint in the first half.

When is the Men’s National Championship game?

The men’s NCAA National championship game will take place on Monday, April 7, with an 8:50 p.m. ET tip-off time.

The game will be played at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Walter Clayton Jr. stats

Walter Clayton Jr. had 34 points, four rebounds and two assists for Florida.

He is the first player with back-to-back 30-point games in the Elite Eight and national semifinals since Larry Bird in 1979, according to ESPN.

Florida vs. Auburn: Final Four Highlights

Johni Broome stats

Johni Broome has 15 points and seven rebounds with one assist, three steals and two blocks for Auburn.

Have the Auburn Tigers ever won a national championship?

The Auburn Tigers have never won a national championship. They have reached as far as the Final Four in 2019. The program also claims two Elite Eight appearances (1986, 2019) and six Sweet 16 appearances.

Where is the Final Four? What to know about Alamodome

The Alamodome, opened in May 1993, is owned by the city of San Antonio. Named after the Alamo, it has a capacity of 65,000 and welcomes the 2025 Final Four. It previously served as the home of the San Antonio Spurs and also houses the annual Alamo Bowl.

Charles Barkley cheers for Auburn

Auburn alumnus Charles Barkley was seen cheering for the Tigers during the Final Four game against SEC rival Florida.

Auburn Tigers men’s basketball roster

Starters in bold

Tahaad Pettiford, Guard, 0

JP Pegues, Guard, 1

Denver Jones, Guard, 2

Jahki Howard, Forward, 3

Johni Broome, Forward/Center, 4

Chris Moore, Forward, 5

CJ Williams, Guard, 7

Ja’Heim Hudson, Forward, 8

Chad Baker-Mazara, Guard/Forward, 10

Joah Shay, Guard, 12

Miles Kelly, Guard, 13

Presley Patterson, Guard 14

Drake Cardwell, Guard, 17

Blake Muschalek, Guard, 21

Reed Trapp, Guard, 22

Addarin Scott, Forward, 23

Chaney Johnson, Forward, 31

Dylan Cardwell, Center, 44

Florida Gators men’s basketball roster

Starters in bold

Walter Clayton Jr., Guard, 1

Kevin Pazmino, Guard, 2

Micah Handlogten, Center, 3

Sam Alexis, Forward, 4

Will Richard, Guard, 5

Urban Klavzar, Guard, 7

Rueben Chinyelu, Center, 9

Thomas Haugh, Forward, 10

Denzel Aberdeen, Guard 11

Viktor Mikic, Center, 12

Alijah Martin, Guard, 15

Isaiah Brown, Guard, 20

Alex Condon, Forward/Center, 21

Bennett Andersen, Guard, 22

Kajus Kublickas, Guard, 30

Olivier Rioux, Center, 32

Cooper Josefsberg, Guard, 33

Johni Broome injury update

Johni Broome participated in pregame warmups for Auburn. The SEC Player of the Year produced a double-double in the victory over Michigan State last week. During that game, he managed to overcome an injury scare in the second half that sent him to the locker room for X-rays for some time. He did return to finish the game.

What time is Auburn vs. Florida Final Four basketball today?

March Madness continues Saturday with the Final Four matchup between the No. 1 seeded Auburn Tigers and the No. 1 seeded Florida Gators. The action tips off at 6:09 p.m. ET.

Where to watch Auburn vs. Florida: TV, streaming coverage 

TV channel: CBS
Live stream: Paramount+ and Fubo (Fubo offers a free trial subscription)

Watch March Madness with Fubo

What channel is March Madness on?

Men’s NCAA Tournament games on Saturday will be broadcast on CBS. You can also watch Final Four action via these streaming options: Paramount+ and Fubo. Fubo offers a free trial subscription to new users.

Florida vs. Auburn predictions and picks

Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY: Florida 85, Auburn 80
Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY: Florida 88, Auburn 84
Erick Smith, USA TODAY: Auburn 73, Florida 70
Eddie Timanus, USA TODAY: Florida 78, Auburn 72
Blake Toppmeyer, USA TODAY: Florida 82, Auburn 70
Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic: Florida 82, Auburn 77
Adam Dubbin, Gators Wire:  Florida 85, Auburn 84

Florida vs. Auburn odds and betting line

The Florida Gators are favorites to beat the Auburn Tigers, according to BetMGM odds as of Saturday, April 5.

Spread: Florida (-2.5)
Moneyline: Florida (-145); Auburn (+120)
O/U: 159.5

March Madness men’s championship odds

The Duke Blue Devils remains the favorite to win the 2025 national championship according to BetMGM odds as of Saturday, April 5.

Duke -115
Florida +310
Houston +450
Auburn +575

Auburn vs. Florida all-time head-to-head record, history

The Auburn Tigers and Florida Gators have played one another 174 times. Auburn enjoys a 90-84 record in the series. The Gators most recently defeated the Tigers 92-81 on Feb. 8, 2025.

Florida Gators national championship, NCAA tournament history

The Florida Gators have won the national championship twice (2006, 2007). The Gators also went to the finals in 2000, losing to Michigan State, 89-76.

Florida vs. Auburn preview

Florida’s first priority will be keeping Auburn’s star big man Johni Broome under wraps. The Gators have a number of options there, as frontcourt starters Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu have been joined by key reserve Micah Handlogten, another seven-footer who had planned to redshirt but rejoined the team in mid-February to provide needed depth. Broome, for his part is still likely to post yet another double-double by night’s end, and Dylan Cardwell can help on the glass. But the Tigers will need points from the arc to keep pace with the Gators. Tahaad Pettiford has had a good tournament thus far, but the Tigers need better shot selection from Miles Kelly can continued success from Denver Jones.

Ah yes, about those Gators’ scorers. As we’ve seen, it will probably be Walter Clayton Jr. taking the big shot when needed, which means he’s likely to draw attention from Auburn’s Chad Baker-Mazara. But Florida also has Elijah Martin, who has Final Four experience from his time at Florida Atlantic, to help alleviate the ball pressure on the perimeter. — Eddie Timanus

Final Four by the numbers: Metrics predict No. 1 seed boon

All hail Ken Pomeroy; the king of the calculator, the seer of the stats, the architect of the analytics and the executive of efficiency.

For more than a decade, a website run by a former meteorologist and atmospheric sciences instructor has been the numbers-based Bible of college basketball. Pomeroy’s formula ranks teams by a variety of different metrics including offensive efficiency, defensive efficiency, tempo and luck. But his top-line number assigned to each team, calculated from data over thousands of possessions across the season, is pretty much the gold standard in terms of predicting on a game-to-game basis which team is more likely to win. — Dan Wolken

March Madness 2025 expert predictions

USA TODAY experts set their picks ahead of the NCAA Tournament. Here is who they picked before the madness.

Jordan Mendoza

Full bracket

Final Four: Michigan State, Florida, Duke, Houston
Final: Florida vs. Houston
National champion: Houston

Final Four: Auburn, St. John’s, Duke, Tennessee
Final: Auburn vs. Duke
National champion: Duke

Eddie Timanus

Full bracket

Final Four: Auburn, Florida, Duke, Houston
Final: Florida vs. Duke
National champion: Florida

Dan Wolken

Full bracket

Final Four: Michigan State, Florida, Duke, Houston
Final: Florida vs. Duke
National champion: Duke

2025 Men’s March Madness Printable Bracket

Here is your printable March Madness bracket.

Click for your 2025 NCAA Tournament printable bracket

Men’s March Madness bracket: Dates, times, TV, results and scores

All times Eastern

Tuesday, March 18

First Four games

South region: No. 16 Alabama State def. No. 16 St. Francis, 70-68
South region: No. 11 North Carolina def. No. 11 San Diego State, 95-68

Wednesday, March 19

First Four games

East region: No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s def. No. 16 American, 83-72
Midwest region: No. 11 Xavier def. No. 11 Texas, 86-80

Thursday, March 20

Round of 64 games

South region: No. 9 Creighton def. No. 8 Louisville, 89-75
Midwest region: No. 4 Purdue def. No. 13 High Point, 75-63
East region: No. 3 Wisconsin def. No. 14 Montana, 86-66
Midwest region: No. 1 Houston def. No. 16 SIU-Edwardsville, 78-40
South region: No. 1 Auburn def. No. 16 Alabama State, 83-63
Midwest region: No. 12 McNeese State def. No. 5 Clemson, 69-67
East region: No. 6 BYU def. No. 11 VCU, 80-71
Midwest region: No. 8 Gonzaga def. No. 9 Georgia, 89-68
Midwest region: No. 2 Tennessee def. No. 15 Wofford, 77-62
West region: No. 10 Arkansas def. No. 7 Kansas, 79-72
South region: No. 4 Texas A&M def. No. 13 Yale, 80-71
West region: No. 11 Drake def. No. 6 Missouri, 67-57
Midwest region: No. 7 UCLA def. No. 10 Utah State, 72-47
West region: No. 2 St. John’s def. No. 15 Omaha, 83-53
South region: No. 5 Michigan def. No. 12 UC San Diego, 68-65
West region: No. 3 Texas Tech def. No. 14 UNC-Wilmington, 82-72

Friday March 21

Round of 64 games

East region: No. 9 Baylor def. No. 8 Mississippi State, 75-72
East region: No. 2 Alabama def. No. 15 Robert Morris, 90-81
South region: No. 3 Iowa State def. No. 14 Lipscomb, 82-55
West region: No. 12 Colorado State def. No. 5 Memphis, 78-70
East region: No. 1 Duke def. No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s, 93-49
East region: No. 7 Saint Mary’s def. No. 10 Vanderbilt, 59-56
South region: No. 6 Ole Miss def. No. 11 North Carolina, 71-64
West region: No. 4 Maryland def. No. 13 Grand Canyon, 81-49
West region: No. 1 Florida def. No. 16 Norfolk State, 95-69
Midwest region: No. 3 Kentucky def. No. 14 Troy, 76-57
South region: No. 10 New Mexico def. No. 7 Marquette, 75-66
East region: No. 4 Arizona def. No. 13 Akron, 93-65
West region: No. 8 UConn def. No. 9 Oklahoma, 67-59
Midwest region: No. 6 Illinois def. No. 11 Xavier, 86-73
South region: No. 2 Michigan State def. No. 15 Bryant, 87-62
East region: No. 5 Oregon def. No. 12 Liberty, 81-52

Saturday, March 22

No. 4 Purdue def. No. 12 McNeese, 76-62
No. 10 Arkansas def. No. 2 St. John’s, 75-66
No. 5 Michigan def. No 4 Texas A&M, 91-79
No. 3 Texas Tech def. No. 11 Drake, 77-64
No. 1 Auburn def. No. 9 Creighton, 82-70
No. 6 BYU def. No. 3 Wisconsin, 91-89
No. 1 Houston def. No. 8 Gonzaga, 81-76
No. 2 Tennessee def. No. 7 UCLA, 67-58

Sunday, March 23

No. 1 Florida def. No. 8 UConn, 77-75
No. 1 Duke def. No. 9 Baylor, 89-66
No. 3 Kentucky def. No. 6 Illinois, 84-75
No. 2 Alabama def. No. 7 Saint Mary’s, 80-66
No. 4 Maryland def. No. 12 Colorado State, 72-71
No. 6 Ole Miss def. No. 3 Iowa State, 91-78
No. 2 Michigan State def. No. 10 New Mexico, 71-63
No. 4 Arizona def. No. 5 Oregon, 87-83

Thursday, March 27

East and West region Sweet 16 games

No. 2 Alabama def. No. 6 BYU, 113-88
No. 1 Florida def. No. 4 Maryland, 87-71
No. Duke def. No. 4 Arizona, 100-93
No. 3 Texas Tech def. No. 10 Arkansas, 85-83

Friday, March 28

Midwest and South region Sweet 16 games

No. 2 Michigan State def. No. 6 Ole Miss, 73-70
No. 2 Tennessee def. No. 3 Kentucky, 78-65
No. 1 Auburn def. No. 5 Michigan, 78-65
No. 1 Houston def. No. 4 Purdue, 62-60

Saturday, March 29

No. 1 Florida def. No. 3 Texas Tech, 84-79
No. 1 Duke def. No. 2 Alabama, 85-65

Sunday, March 30

No. 1 Houston def. No. 2 Tennessee, 69-50
No. 1 Auburn def. No. 2 Michigan State, 70-64

Saturday, April 5

Final Four

No. 1 Florida vs. No. 1 Auburn: 6:09 p.m. | CBS
No. 1 Duke vs No. 1 Houston: 8:49 p.m. | CBS

Monday, April 7

National championship game: 8:50 p.m. | CBS

When does the women’s national championship start?

The women’s Final Four championship game will be Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.

Women’s March Madness schedule

Here is the remaining schedule for the women’s NCAA Tournament: 

Final Four: Friday, April 4, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, hosted at Amalie Arena in Tampa. Second game starts 30 minutes after first game ends.
NCAA championship game: Sunday, April 6 at 3 p.m. ET on ABC, hosted at Amalie Arena in Tampa.

Women’s March Madness printable bracket

Click here to print your 2025 NCAA women’s tournament printable bracket

SAN ANTONIO – Years after he walked away from the job that seemed like any basketball coach’s dream, Gene Bartow would joke about it. It wasn’t so much that he was worried UCLA would fire him, he said.

“But assassinated? That’s a different thing.”

Bartow, who died in 2012, was 44 years old when he got an offer he couldn’t refuse: Replace John Wooden, who announced his retirement on March 29, 1975, and won his 10th NCAA championship two days later.

But it didn’t take long before Bartow realized he made a mistake leaving Illinois after one season. The pressure of replacing Wooden and the microscope he was living under in Los Angeles made him miserable and paranoid. The stress ate away at him, literally. And even though UCLA went 52-9 under Bartow, reaching a Final Four and a Sweet 16, he left after two years to become the athletics director and head coach of Alabama-Birmingham’s startup program.

“Deep down, I thought we might be able to win the national championship that third year and I kind of wanted to battle on through it,” Bartow told the Los Angeles Times in 1990. “But I kept thinking, ‘Even if we do, even if we go undefeated and win the national championship, would it really change some of the things that were ingrained?’ ‘

For generations, Bartow’s early departure and the four coaches after him who either failed miserably or couldn’t cope with the demands of the UCLA job, defined one of the most prominent axioms in sports: You never want to be the coach who follows a legend.

So when Duke announced on June 4, 2021, that 33-year-old Jon Scheyer would replace Mike Krzyzewski the following April, it would have been reasonable based on history to predict the worst. To wonder if Scheyer was offered up as a sacrificial lamb in an impossible situation. To be skeptical that a first-time head coach less than a decade removed from his playing career could credibly lead a program that had been under Krzyzewski’s rule for 42 years.

And yet on Saturday night here at the Alamodome, just three years into his tenure, Scheyer will lead Duke out of the tunnel and onto the court for a Final Four game against Houston with a powerhouse program that has quickly been remade in his image, and a potential championship team that he constructed without any real connection to the Krzyzewski era.

It has arguably been the smoothest, most-successful, drama-free transition from legend to replacement in the history of sports.

“I’ll tell you how good Jon Scheyer has been,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “Nobody talks about him replacing Coach K anymore. He’s Jon Scheyer. He’s got his team in the Final Four. I think that speaks volumes.”

Anyone who thinks it was always going to play out this way, or that Duke’s program was going to stay on autopilot in a post-Krzyzewski world because of its brand or the significant money the school and its boosters committed to the roster simply doesn’t understand how difficult these transitions typically are in college sports.

PREDICTIONS: Our experts forecast who wins Final Four semifinals

TOP SEEDS: Where does this Final Four rank with the best ever?

Whether it was Lute Olson’s messy handoff to Kevin O’Neill at Arizona, the complete meltdown at UConn after Kevin Ollie won a shocking national title in his second year replacing Jim Calhoun or Villanova having to cut the cord with Kyle Neptune just three years into the post-Jay Wright era, failure is normal. What’s happened at Duke is the outlier.

“It’s not easy,” said new UNLV coach Josh Pastner, who was 31 back in 2009 when he was tabbed to replace John Calipari at Memphis. “You feel the pressure, there’s no doubt about it. You can’t not feel it. I couldn’t be Coach Calipari. What he did there, only one guy could do that.

‘So you’ve got to be comfortable in your own skin. You have to do it the way you believe is the right way, and there’s mistakes along the way and I’m sure Jon has felt that. So I understand it, and the job he’s done following Coach K is about as impressive following a legend at that stature as we’ve seen in the recent time of any sport, not just college basketball.”

The credit, of course, goes mostly to Scheyer. He’s been up to the job in recruiting, securing four straight No. 1-ranked classes while using the transfer portal to fill in some holes and boost the experience level of the roster. He’s been perfectly capable in the X and O department. And he’s shown a high level of emotional IQ, projecting a presence that is both commanding and approachable while avoiding the trap of cosplaying as a Krzyzewski clone.

But a lot of credit goes to Krzyzewski, too, because of how thoughtfully and delicately he’s handled his part in the transition.

It’s possible Krzyzewski will be somewhere in the stands watching Saturday, though it’s not a guarantee. Since coaching his last game at the Final Four in 2022, he has maintained an office at Duke as an ambassador for the program of sorts but has chosen to be circumspect about his appearances at Duke games or other places where he might draw attention away from Scheyer. Though Krzyzewski hosts a weekly radio show, it seems that his general posture has been to help when needed behind the scenes but to mostly stay out of the way.

“Coach K has given me amazing room to be myself,” said Scheyer, who was the point guard in 2010 for Krzyzewski’s fourth championship team. “I think he understands when he’s around, just the gravity and the people looking at him and all that. But our communication has been the same all the time.

‘I’ll tell you, in the toughest moments that I’ve had as a head coach my first three years, the person I call is him. And for him to talk me through different moments or situations, not many coaches still have their coach. I do, and I couldn’t be more grateful to that.

“Not many coaches truly want the program to succeed once they’re done, and I think part of his legacy forever will be the fact that he set our program up for such success. We’re able to be in the Final Four in Year 3, and it’s a credit to him and how the succession has gone down.”

In retrospect, Krzyzewski clearly understood and internalized the complicated nature of what would follow when he announced his retirement in the summer of 2021 but gave himself one more season to coach.

People who were conditioned to be skeptical of Krzyzewski’s motives might have interpreted that as an ego-boosting retirement tour, standing in stark contrast to North Carolina coach Roy Williams’ surprise announcement two months earlier that he was handing the program off immediately to Hubert Davis.

Four years on, however, North Carolina is a bit of a mess. Though his first team got hot and made the national championship game as a No. 8 seed – delivering Krzyzewski’s final loss along the way – Davis has struggled with the nuts and bolts of running the program in a landscape dominated by NIL and the transfer portal. North Carolina has now hired Jim Tanner as general manager in hopes that Davis’ tenure can be salvaged next year when he’ll clearly be under a mandate to return the Tar Heels to the national stage.

The way Krzyzewski handled his retirement, on the other hand, gave Scheyer 10 months to ease into the job and both mentally prepare himself to be the next head coach while also setting up the infrastructure of the program and the recruiting apparatus to hit the ground running while not having to worry about the full responsibility of coaching the team.

By the time Scheyer fully took over, he had already signed blue-chip recruits like Dariq Whitehead, Dereck Lively, Kyle Filipowski and Tyrese Proctor, who knew they were coming to Duke to play for Scheyer, not Krzyzewski.

It turned out to be an invaluable period, given the scope of the transition.

“I think that year was definitely mischaracterized,” Scheyer said. “Coach K’s biggest intention was that he wanted the program to be able to sustain great success. And in order to do that, especially in that time, you had to have a chance to recruit a team.

“Another thing that was just as important, it made it more real for me. Some of the best conversations I’ve ever had with coach was throughout that season, just talking about why he makes certain decisions, what’s going on in his mind in real time during a game.

‘So you’re thinking about, all right, he called a timeout. Would I call the timeout at the same time? Being here at the Final Four (in 2022), going through the tournament, it just made it more real. It was a great trial run for me to imagine what plays you would call in certain situations.”

It has not, of course, been a straight line to the top for Duke in the post-Krzyzewski era. Some of the recruits in Scheyer’s first couple of classes fell short of their massive expectations. Losing to North Carolina State in the Elite Eight last year as a huge favorite was a gut punch. And in the long run, it’s unlikely Scheyer comes close to matching the Krzyzewski standard because that’s just not a realistic comparison when you’re talking about 1,129 wins, 13 Final Fours and five titles.

But in just his third year as a head coach, Scheyer has proven that he can handle the pressure of running a blueblood program, that he can relate to elite talent without being a pushover and that he can construct rosters at maybe an even higher level than Krzyzewski did in his last several years, when the pieces didn’t always seem to quite fit.

Nobody can see the future, but all the signs suggest Scheyer is here to stay, and Duke is going to avoid the years of drama and tumult that often follow when a legend steps away. Scheyer doesn’t need a national title Monday to validate the Duke succession plan, but it would be an exclamation point on how unusually seamless he and Krzyzewski have navigated a path that swallowed up so many who traversed it before.

Walter Clayton Jr. has been the star for Florida, and while he’s led the Gators to the men’s Final Four for the first time since 2014, the senior guard could have been in Gainesville much earlier in his college career.

The only difference is he would’ve been wearing cleats and sporting the iconic orange helmet with the ‘Gators’ script.

It’s a rewarding feeling for every player to make the Final Four, but there’s more to it for Clayton. Making it to San Antonio fulfills a bet he made on himself. People didn’t see a future on a basketball court, and as they laid out a path to college for him, he stuck to his gut, and created his own road toward success.

At Lake Wales High School, about 45 miles south of Orlando, Clayton was turning heads as a safety for the Highlanders football team. He was quick and a ball hawk. He became a four-star prospect and, according to 247Sports, got offers to play at Notre Dame, Florida State, Georgia, Nebraska and Tennessee.

And yes, even Florida. In fact, he took a recruiting visit to Florida with now former Gators player and current Chicago Bears defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Jr.

But for how good he was on the gridiron, Clayton wanted to pursue basketball. The only issue was not many schools had as much interest. He sought out to prove how serious he was about it by trying to attend Florida’s premier sports prep school in IMG Academy. Instead, he was told football would be his only path there.

Clayton didn’t let the rejections stop him. He transferred to Bartow High School prior to his junior season to focus solely on basketball, and he was a stud as a key contributor on a team that won back-to-back state titles. Even with the success, COVID-19 restrictions hampered his recruitment. Only mid-major schools such as Jacksonville, East Carolina and Iona offered him a scholarship.

But at Iona was Rick Pitino, and it turns out the success at Bartow played a major role in getting him to New Rochelle, New York.

‘We looked at the film, and what I liked is that he won back-to-back high school championships,’ Pitino said Friday. ‘I wanted a winner at Iona, and he was a winner. Even though he was a football player, I liked the way he passed the ball. I liked what he was doing.’

Pitino gave him the chance, and after he adjusted to the college game, Clayton shined for the Gaels. He was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player of the year in 2022-23 with 16.8 points per game and a nation-best 95.3% free throw percentage to lead Iona to the NCAA Tournament. When Pitino left Iona for St. John’s, Clayton decided to come back to his home state rather than follow his coach. He visited the Gators as a football recruit years prior, now he was finally playing hoops for them.

Since then, it’s been the perfect fit for Clayton at Florida. Last season he showed flashes of his star potential, and it’s been on full display during this campaign. He leads the team with 18.1 points and 4.2 assists per game and was the SEC Tournament MVP, helping Florida prove it is a national championship contender by coming out on top in the conference.

‘They counted my boy out on the court!’ Dexter said on social media.

Had it not been for Clayton in the Elite Eight, Florida would not be playing Auburn on Saturday. Now in the Final Four, Clayton could put himself among Gators greats if he’s able to deliver Florida its third national championship and first since 2007.

No matter what happens in San Antonio, getting to this point is already a win for Clayton. He’ll leave college a star and has a shot as a pro. He’s projected to be a second round selection in the USA TODAY Sports NBA mock draft.

Would Clayton have been a star if he chose football? We’ll never know. But he took a chance on himself with basketball when others didn’t, and it paid off.

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin made clear Friday night he didn’t want to be on the ice in an empty-net situation when he needed one more goal to break Wayne Gretzky’s record at home.

‘He wants to break the record with a goaltender in the crease,’ coach Spencer Carbery told reporters after the 5-3 win in which Ovechkin scored twice to tie Gretzky (894).

No goalie wants to be the one who gives up the record goal, but it looks like someone will. So who could it be?

Ovechkin has six games and four opponents left to get goal No. 895 before the end of the season. He faces the New York Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets twice, plus the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Islanders are up next on Sunday (12:30 p.m. ET, TNT, truTV). Semyon Varlamov has given up eight goals, including ones on which Ovechkin passed Mario Lemieux for 10th place, Phil Esposito for sixth and Jaromir Jagr for third. But Varlamov is injured.

How Ovechkin has fared against goalies he could face down the stretch:

New York Islanders

Dates: April 6 and 15

Ilya Sorokin: No goals in three games on four shots.

Marcus Hogberg: Two goals in three games on 14 shots.

Carolina Hurricanes

Date: April 10

Frederik Andersen: Nine goals in 12 games on 48 shots.

Pyotr Kochetkov: Four goals in five games on 19 shots.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Dates: April 12-13

Elvis Merzlikins: Four goals in seven games on 24 shots.

Daniil Tarasov: Three goals in three games on nine shots.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Date: April 17

Tristan Jarry: Two goals in 11 games on 30 shots.

Alex Nedeljkovic: Two goals in four games on 12 shots.

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Jim Nantz is back at the Final Four of the men’s NCAA Tournament.

However, this time around, the legendary voice of March Madness does so in a different role: a fan.

The former voice of the Final Four is expected to be in attendance once again to watch Houston, L.J. Cryer and Kelvin Sampson take on Duke, Cooper Flagg and Jon Scheyer in the Final Four at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Saturday.

Here’s what you need to know on why Nantz is back at the Final Four:

Is Jim Nantz a Houston basketball fan?

Yes, a very big one indeed. Nantz’s fandom for the Cougars has to do with the fact that he graduated from the University of Houston in 1981.

‘I am absolutely in love with this team. Kelvin Sampson, the head coach, he’s just incredible. I will be there in the stands wearing red and cheering us on against the mighty Duke Blue Devils come Saturday evening.’

Nantz, who called the Final Four of the men’s NCAA Tournament for 32 years for CBS, was in the stands for the Cougars’ Elite Eight win over No. 2 seed Tennessee at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday, March 30. He was even in Houston’s photo on the court after the game at a request by Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson.

‘I hope when we get into (Final Four) week, people look at this (Houston) team as a throwback to what college basketball used to be,’ Nantz told KHOU 11 News Houston’s Jason Bristol after Houston’s Elite Eight win.

Where did Jim Nantz go to college?

Nantz attended the University of Houston, where he earned an undergraduate degree in radio/television in 1981. He was recruited to attend the University of Houston as a member of the Cougars golf team.

‘My career traces back to college and a group of supporters who loved on me, believed in me and gave me opportunity,’ Nantz told NCAA.com in 2023. ‘And it was really channeled through college basketball, through the Houston basketball program.’ 

Nantz told ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ that while he was at Houston, he got introduced to the Cougars’ then-head coach, Guy Lewis, through his golf coach, Dave Williams, and that led to his first big break as a broadcaster: hosting Lewis’ weekly radio show.

‘My whole career really was channeled being on the golf team and the golf coach introducing me to Guy Lewis, the Hall of Fame coach for Houston, who said, ‘Young man I’d like you to be our public address announcer at our home basketball games,” Nantz said. ‘That turned into me, while still a student, hosting his coaches show on the NBC affiliate. It gave me (credibility) when I was 20 years old.

‘It’s been a long-running affair (between Houston and me). For some reason, they even have a banner now right next to the Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.’

Where is Jim Nantz from?

Despite having quite the fandom and connection to the University of Houston, Nantz has no ties to The Lone Star State other than his alma mater. As noted by The Sporting News, Nantz was born in Charlotte, North Carolina before spending parts of his childhood in New Orleans and Marlboro Township, New Jersey.

Nantz, who became the lead voice for CBS’ coverage of the NCAA Tournament in 1991, called his last Final Four in Houston in 2023 at NRG Stadium, when UConn won the first of two back-to-back national championship titles.

With Cooper Flagg struggling and Duke’s season on the line, the Blue Devils’ other freshmen stepped up to deliver the program into Saturday’s national semifinals.

This hasn’t been the case all season: Flagg has delivered on gargantuan expectations with one of the most complete seasons by a freshman in Power Five history.

But he was not himself in the Elite Eight against Alabama. Facing the possibility of being eliminated in the regional finals for the second year in a row, the Blue Devils were carried past the Crimson Tide and into the Final Four matchup against Houston by leaning on two first-year players who have spent the year in Flagg’s shadow.

They were also five-star recruits. They also held offers from many of college basketball’s most elite programs. They also stepped right into the starting lineup, making this Duke team one of the most freshmen-heavy to ever reach the doorstep of the national championship. And they’ve also delivered at a moment when the last vestiges of COVID-era super seniors have made college basketball an older man’s game, relatively speaking.

Duke wouldn’t be two wins away from the sixth national championship in program history without guard Kon Knueppel and center Khaman Maluach, two high-profile offseason additions who in almost any other year would’ve popped onto the national radar long before the NCAA Tournament.

Knueppel’s ‘versatility is huge for us, and his size,’ said Duke coach Jon Scheyer. ‘He’s able to pass. He’s able to finish. You feel he’s always going to get off a good look because he has great pivots in the paint and great patience.’

‘He’s a phenomenal player,’ sophomore guard Caleb Foster said of Maluach. ‘To have a big like that who can catch lobs and defend the rim, it doesn’t get any better than that. I can’t even describe what he means to this team. He’s a big reason why we’re here.’

PREDICTIONS: Our experts forecast who wins Final Four semifinals

TOP SEEDS: Where does this Final Four rank with the best ever?

Maluach, who was born in Rumbek, South Sudan, was the nation’s fourth-ranked prospect in last year’s recruiting class, according to 247Sports.com, sandwiched between a handful of surefire NBA draft lottery picks in Flagg, Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper of Rutgers and Baylor guard V.J. Edgecombe. The top-ranked player in Wisconsin, Knueppel came in No. 18 overall as the fifth-best small forward in the class.

While Maluach came in with far more hype, Knueppel has been a remarkably consistent second or third scoring option since the Blue Devils’ season opener against Maine.

He’s scored in double figures in all but seven of Duke’s 38 games, including 20 points in the Sweet 16 against Arizona and 21 points against the Crimson Tide. Knueppel is shooting 47.7% from the field, 40.1% from 3-point range and 91.2% from the free-throw line. Only once all season has played fewer than 20 minutes, logging 19 minutes in the opening-round win against Mount St. Mary’s.

Maluach took longer to acclimate himself to the college game. While his physical gifts have been obvious from the start – it’s hard to ignore his 9-foot-8 wingspan – Maluach struggled through foul trouble and finding a place in the Blue Devils’ system through the start of ACC play.

He was held to single-digit scoring 10 times in a 15-game span of conference play from late December through February, including a scoreless performance across 18 minutes in a win against Wake Forest and just three points and five rebounds in a loss to Clemson before fouling out after 20 minutes.

Since the ACC tournament, however, Maluach has made an enormous impact on both ends and helped Duke develop into the favorite at this year’s Final Four.

He’s averaging 11.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks across these past seven games, proving himself to be nearly unstoppable near the rim on the offensive end – Maluach has made 36 of 44 attempts from the field, including 20 of 23 in the tournament – while changing the way opponents challenge the Blue Devils in the paint.

Maluach’s ability to control the area near the hoop has helped Duke’s backcourt focus on stifling teams on the perimeter, aware that he’s around to clean up any mess that might sneak inside the 3-point line – like all great defensive big men, he’s become the eraser at the center of the Blue Devils’ scheme.

‘You just focus on the ball and you know your brother’s got your back,’ Foster said. ‘That’s how we play defense, and it helps he’s back there.’

Both players have saved their best play for the postseason. With Flagg making just 6 of 16 attempts against Alabama and struggling to get to his spots on the offensive end, Knueppel went 2 of 4 from behind the arc, made all five of his attempts from the line and added five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Maluach had 14 points, nine rebounds and a pair of blocks while playing a season-high 31 minutes.

This postseason impact has put Maluach and Knueppel in the mix for the top part of this year’s NBA draft; while Maluach’s size and athleticism had him on the NBA radar before the season, Knueppel’s evolution into a lottery pick has been more surprising.

According to USA TODAY Sports’ most recent NBA mock draft, Flagg is projected to go No. 1 overall, Knueppel is picked to go No. 5 and Maluach No. 7.

The way this pair has surged onto the national radar during the past month has helped make a case for this Duke freshmen class being counted among the top rookie groups in NCAA history – a case that would get even stronger should the No. 1 Blue Devils beat No. 1 Houston on Saturday night and then defeat the winner of the other semifinal between No. 1 Auburn and No. 1 Florida.

‘Now, we’ve had some pretty special classes, some freshman classes,’ said Scheyer. ‘I think this group, the way they’ve been so mature with really just being up for any challenge, the way they compete, the way they understand the game.

‘For me as a coach, it’s been amazing to have, to have guys that are always ready. As freshmen, that usually doesn’t happen all the time.’

Houston basketball will be tasked with figuring out how to stop the Duke forward from carrying the Blue Devils to the 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament national championship game. The Cougars had one of the best defenses during the regular season, but Flagg represents a different challenge.

Flagg has averaged 19.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists on 44.8% shooting from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range to go along with 1.8 blocks per game. Flagg had 16 points in the Elite Eight victory over Alabama last Saturday.

The Cougars have held three of their four opponents under 60 points during the postseason run. They have close wins over Gonzaga and Purdue, but blowout wins over SIU Edwardsville and Tennessee. Houston beat the Vols 69-50 in a dominant defensive performance last Sunday.

Duke beat Houston 54-51 in the first-ever meeting between the programs last year in the Sweet 16 on March 29 in Dallas.

Here’s how experts see the Final Four battle between Duke and Houston playing out, along with odds and how to watch:

Florida vs Auburn picks and predictions

USA TODAY picks:

Jordan Mendoza: Duke’s amazing offense faces its biggest challenge yet. The Blue Devils should be able to put up some points against Houston, but the surprise will be the Cougars keep up. Houston’s defense toughens up in the final minutes for the win. Houston 63, Duke 61.
Paul Myerberg: Houston will make Duke earn it on the offensive end, unlike Arizona and Alabama in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. The Cougars could slow things down enough to negate the Blue Devils’ advantages in size and shooting. But Duke is too good and playing too well to be stopped now. Houston will keep the scoring down but won’t have enough to pull out a minor upset. Duke 71, Houston 58.
Erick Smith: Another matchup where the experience factor is important. That edge goes to Houston on the court and with Kelvin Sampson on the bench. Duke has the more dynamic players, including the best one at the Final Four. Can Cooper Flagg produce the biggest shots on the biggest stage? We will bet on him. Duke 70, Houston 66.
Eddie Timanus: I’m hopeful that this isn’t the rock fight some are predicting. The potential is there for this to be a higher scoring game than the stats might suggest, and if that does indeed turn out to be the case I think that favors the Blue Devils. Duke 84, Houston 75.
Blake Toppmeyer: Nobody defends better than Houston, and the Cougars go five-deep with players who can score in double figures. Their experience will shine at this stage of the tournament. Houston 75, Duke 71.

Rodd Baxley, Fayetteville Observer: Duke 69, Houston 65: 

‘The Cougars have the talent, experience and toughness to beat the Blue Devils and cut down the nets on the following Monday in Texas. But they don’t have Cooper Flagg, who will be the star among stars in the Lone Star State. Duke wins a close one to clinch its spot in the national championship game.’

Duke vs Houston date, start time, where to watch

Game Day: Saturday, April 5
Game Time: 8:49 p.m. ET
Location: Alamodome (San Antonio, Texas)
TV Channel: CBS
Live Stream: Fubo (free trial)

Watch Duke vs Houston on Fubo (free trial)

Duke vs Houston odds

Odds as of Saturday, April 5 via BetMGM.

Spread: Duke (-4.5)
Over/under: 136.5
Moneyline: Duke (-275) | Auburn (+225)