Houston vs. Florida: National Championship Game Preview

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00:00:00We welcome you to our number two live right here on this

00:00:04National Championship Monday on the early line on Sports Grid

00:00:08and what a way to begin this second hour of our three hours

00:00:12here on TEL and with John Rothstein bright and early on

00:00:16this Monday morning live from San Antonio and the site of

00:00:20tonight's National Championship game. He is already wearing the

00:00:23suit. He is ready to go soon. We sleep but not until the next

00:00:28month early here in April. John a National Championship at stake

00:00:32tonight between Houston and Florida Rothstein joining us on

00:00:36behalf of the FanDuel Sportsbook and of course we'll be covering

00:00:39tonight's title game for CBS Sports as always John for the

00:00:43entirety of this college basketball season. We thank you

00:00:46for being here. Well, Ben, it's great to be with you on this

00:00:50championship Monday. It's hard to believe that there are only

00:00:53two teams left in the 2025 NCAA tournament, but we have the two

00:00:57most resilient teams in college basketball in Houston and

00:01:01Florida and one of the things that I'm really thinking about

00:01:04entering tonight's game is that the late great coach of Marquette

00:01:09Al McGuire, who won a National Championship in 1977 said that

00:01:14you know when you're trying to win a six game tournament,

00:01:16normally you need one game along the way. That's a white

00:01:20knuckler that you win Florida and Houston have done that twice

00:01:24each. Houston did it against Purdue and obviously in that

00:01:28epic comeback Saturday against Duke, Florida did it against

00:01:32UConn in the round of 32 and obviously that epic comeback

00:01:35against Texas Tech. So I have no doubt that these are the two

00:01:39most resilient teams in the sport. Whoever might be

00:01:42trailing at the half. If that does indeed happen tonight, do

00:01:45not turn off your television because we are in for a great

00:01:49one tonight in the National Championship game inside the

00:01:52Alamo Dome, but John to set the stage for the title game. We

00:01:55look back quickly on final four Saturday. One of the all time

00:01:59great comebacks in the history of the final four Houston

00:02:02trailed by as many as 14 points against Duke with just over

00:02:06eight minutes remaining down by six with just over 30 seconds

00:02:10left in regulation. You were there on Saturday night in San

00:02:13Antonio to see the Cougs pull off one of the best comebacks

00:02:17in thrilling finishes we have ever seen in the big dance to

00:02:21win 7067 in your time watching and following college

00:02:25basketball with your own two eyes. Had you ever seen

00:02:28anything much like Saturday night? No man and this was a

00:02:33where were you moment when you were watching this unfold? I

00:02:36think back obviously and you know that I'm not really one

00:02:39who's obviously prone to following other sports, but I

00:02:42remember in 1993 when Joe Carter hit that home run when

00:02:47the Blue Jays beat the Phillies. I remember in the

00:02:4994 World Cup when Roberto Baggio missed that penalty

00:02:52kick. I remember obviously Christian Laitner making a shot

00:02:57in 92 to beat Duke and I'll remember where I was on

00:03:00Saturday night and who I was with when Houston literally

00:03:04from the jaws of defeat went to the ecstasy of victory

00:03:10matching the third largest comeback ever in the history of

00:03:13the final four trailing by 14 points in the second half. That

00:03:17was a stunning upset. So was John Rothstein mentioning

00:03:20Major League Baseball on National Championship Monday,

00:03:23but the guy can do it all John the first game of the night on

00:03:28Saturday, Florida down by eight at the half against Auburn.

00:03:31They turn things around in the second 20 minutes. The Gators

00:03:35prevailing in the all SEC showdown against their

00:03:38conference mate in Auburn. What did the Gators figure out in

00:03:42that second half to advance to a national championship game?

00:03:46Well, the totality of Florida's frontcourt wore down

00:03:49tonight room and Ben when we spoke last week, we talked

00:03:52about this being a real key to the game. You know, the four

00:03:54guys that Florida used up front Alex Condon, Tommy Hack

00:03:58rumen chanye Lu and obviously Micah hand logged in all wore

00:04:02down room and those four guys are going to have to be up to

00:04:05the test tonight. If we're going to see indeed Florida's

00:04:09frontcourt trade wits with who obviously Houston has up front.

00:04:13Yeah, and John as we know from Florida players after the game

00:04:17and anybody kind of walking around the tunnels of the Alamo

00:04:19Dome on Saturday night. It wasn't exactly the nicest

00:04:22conversation at the break in the Gators locker room. Todd

00:04:26Golden inspiring his team for that second half John Rothstein.

00:04:30You're a college basketball truth. Sayer all season long.

00:04:34This was the national championship matchup that you

00:04:37predicted Florida and Houston on a Monday night in early April

00:04:42for a national title at stake in San Antonio. So now we have

00:04:47reached this stage. It is a virtual pick them between the

00:04:49Gators and the Cougars the game. You predicted who wins it

00:04:53on this Monday night. Look, I think that Florida has the best

00:04:58guard on the court and Walter Clayton jr. Who has made more

00:05:01clutch shots in this NCAA tournament since any guard I've

00:05:04covered since Chavez Napier did it for UConn in 2014, but

00:05:08there's something about the Cougars. There's something

00:05:10about Calvin Sampson. There's something about the culture in

00:05:12this program and we saw that on Saturday night against Duke and

00:05:17it feels like a coronation for Houston, but it's not a

00:05:20coronation for Houston Ben because Florida is that good.

00:05:24But with that said Houston is playing just 199 miles from the

00:05:28Fertitta Center. I feel like there's going to be a major red

00:05:31feeling throughout San Antonio later today, and I feel like

00:05:35Calvin Sampson at 69 years of age will have his life and his

00:05:39career complete by winning a national championship. And as

00:05:43of today, Ben and this is something also that is very, I

00:05:46think under the radar right now. Calvin Sampson has 799

00:05:51career wins. So if he gets the win tonight, it will be number

00:05:54800 and what an 800 winner would be to beat Florida for the

00:05:58national championship here in San Antonio coaching in his

00:06:02first ever national championship game. John and

00:06:04those 799 wins right now in his career second most among

00:06:09active D1 head coaches without a national championship. Fifth

00:06:12most all time for a D1 head coach without a national title

00:06:16hoping to change that not only for his own individual resume,

00:06:20but the first national championship for a proud Houston

00:06:23basketball program tonight as well in the Lone Star State.

00:06:27John that was your prediction as well. The Cougs they have the

00:06:29edge against the Gators in this national championship game. What

00:06:33is that biggest advantage that Houston and Calvin Sampson will

00:06:37look to take advantage of tonight? Well, you know the one

00:06:41thing that I want to see is how Florida handles the

00:06:44relentlessness of Houston's depth up front. I think one of

00:06:48the areas where Florida had a decisive advantage against

00:06:50Auburn was Auburn had individually the best front

00:06:53court player on the floor Saturday in Jani Broome, but

00:06:56the totality of Florida's front court was able to wear down

00:07:01what we saw from obviously Broome. I don't think that's

00:07:04going to be the case against Houston up front with Tugler

00:07:07with Roberts and with Francis. So I think we're going to see a

00:07:10real prize fight tonight. Look here's the bottom line. The

00:07:13more possessions there are in this game, the higher scoring

00:07:16the game is it favors Florida. The more the game is in the mud

00:07:20much like we saw towards the end of the Houston Duke game on

00:07:22Saturday, the more it's going to favor the Cougars. I think

00:07:26it's a great point John 140 and a half is that total for

00:07:29tonight's national title game. You would think it is

00:07:32correlated. If Florida wins, it might be a higher scoring

00:07:35affair over 140 and a hook. If Houston prevails, maybe staying

00:07:39under that number last question to you. John Rothstein, the

00:07:43Cougars cut down the nets as a national champ who wins the

00:07:46final four's most outstanding player LJ Cryer. A plus 160

00:07:53price right now second best number only behind Walter

00:07:56Clayton Junior, but the shortest price for anybody wearing a

00:08:00Cougars uniform. John Rothstein. Enjoy your national

00:08:04championship Monday in San Antonio. Have some good tortilla

00:08:08chips and salsa. Enjoy the sun. We thank you for everything

00:08:12this year throughout the college basketball campaign. I

00:08:15look forward to seeing you nap my friend coming up in May. Ben,

00:08:19you know I'm saving my calories for when I you know land at

00:08:22LaGuardia. Just so you know, I've got a reservation at Fort

00:08:25Charles in the West Village on Friday. so I'm excited about

00:08:28that. A cheat meal could be on the horizon along with some

00:08:31afternoon beverages on Tuesday. You know you're trying to get

00:08:34your early season rankings ready for late tonight, but

00:08:37they're changing not every hour, but every half hour with

00:08:39the transfer portal. We sleep in May, but make no mistake

00:08:43about it. Once I land in New York, we will drink in April. It

00:08:46is national championship Monday in college basketball, which

00:08:50means our coach JY James Young joins us here for the entirety

00:08:55of this final half an hour of our second hour on a Monday

00:08:58morning on the early line. We'll recap national championship

00:09:02Sunday in the women's NCAA tournament and then of course

00:09:05break down every aspect of our national title game on this

00:09:09Monday night. JY. We will be live together on this Monday

00:09:13evening in studio along with our good friend, old Kate Doves

00:09:16Kevin Wallace for the entirety of the national championship

00:09:19game excited for all of it on this Monday to close out a

00:09:23college basketball season. I know you had John Roste on. He

00:09:28says we'll sleep in May. I'm hoping to sleep in April. I

00:09:31gotta get through one more night. You certainly do at

00:09:34least maybe early on April 8th. That would be a Tuesday

00:09:38morning with an 859 PM Eastern time. Whatever the tip is now

00:09:43for our national championship game. Donnie will be up the

00:09:46entire time. Do not worry about it. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah.

00:09:51Here's a good story for you. JY tomorrow like me and Ben

00:09:53will be in studio together. Ben is gonna explain to me how

00:09:56good the game was last night live on TV tomorrow morning

00:09:59because I won't see one single play tonight from the national

00:10:02championship, but I do that out of love and respect for the

00:10:04people out there. I gotta be bright and early and bushy

00:10:06tailed. I won't watch the game. Ben will explain it to me and

00:10:09away we go. Can't wait. Can't wait. Okay. Yeah. I mean that

00:10:14that's gonna be a good time. It's basically gonna be our

00:10:16three hours. I'm just gonna do play by play of a recap version

00:10:19of the game. Yes, we can't give play by play tonight on

00:10:23bracket Central. Alright, JY. Let's dive into what we saw

00:10:26yesterday in the women's national championship game and

00:10:29for the first time since 2016, but the twelfth time in program

00:10:34history, UConn back on top of the sport national championship

00:10:39victory number twelve as the Huskies thoroughly dominant

00:10:43against the reigning national title winners in South

00:10:46Carolina 8259, a 23 point win. Connecticut covers as a seven

00:10:52and a half point favorite, a total of 136 and a half skies

00:10:56to the over. JY after making final four history earlier in

00:11:01the weekend on Friday winning by 34 against UCLA largest

00:11:05margin of victory ever in a women's final four game. They

00:11:08knock off the reigning champs in South Carolina by 23. How

00:11:13was UConn able to be so dominant throughout this big

00:11:15dance resulting in national championship number twelve?

00:11:20Honestly, they just had to figure it out. I know they had

00:11:22some earlier losses, including a home one to USC, which I do

00:11:26believe may have been the last loss that they had in a regular

00:11:30season, but I was undeterred. I thought that this team was the

00:11:34best team in the country and they had to figure it out. You

00:11:36have to realize the fact of the injuries that Paige Beckers has

00:11:39had over the career. The fact that AZ fun missed last year

00:11:4210 transfers in from Princeton's got to figure that

00:11:44out, right? And Sarah Strong is a freshman. You just have to

00:11:47kind of get them all kind of figuring it out. Offensively. I

00:11:52think what you saw Ben was a team that was all on all

00:11:56cylinders. Now, the thing with the biggest takeaway for me was

00:11:59it wasn't Sunday. It was Friday and AZ fun showed up Friday

00:12:04night versus UCLA. And once I saw that then there was no doubt

00:12:09in my mind that they were going to get the win. Remember, they

00:12:11went to South Carolina earlier in the year, broke their home

00:12:14winning streak and beat him by 30. So I wasn't shocked. Now,

00:12:18I was shocked about the how bad the score was, but what the

00:12:22shock by the winning a cover by UConn because once AZ gets

00:12:26going, especially from and she wasn't even going from three

00:12:29pull-up game, get to the rack, whatever you need. Now, Paige

00:12:32doesn't have to carry all of it. All of it. Chad can become

00:12:35a little bit more of a point guard and Sarah Strong could be

00:12:38the best freshman in the country. So once you got those

00:12:41three going, there was nothing that South Carolina could do to

00:12:46stop them, nor the South Carolina have the offensive

00:12:50firepower to go against that. Once that game started getting

00:12:54up in numbers, you saw it dotted about 5339 or you see

00:12:58all the social media going nuclear on the sideline.

00:13:01Honestly, Ben, when that happened, you knew that game

00:13:05was over. We take a look at UConn as a program. Do you know

00:13:09REM a 12 national championships now and you saw

00:13:12him getting like emotional at the end saying, though, this is

00:13:14one of the teams where like, I'm sad to say goodbye to him.

00:13:17I'm happy. They want it, but how much they meant to me here.

00:13:20How much longer of a run do we have with, you know, REM with

00:13:23UConn because he is the program and that's an interesting

00:13:26transition. But are we looking at this too early as you have a

00:13:29couple more years left in the tank, you know, you can go both

00:13:32ways. I for one thing that you win by 30, you go out on top. I

00:13:36mean, you do there wasn't there's a bit of dominating

00:13:39performance like that at a national championship game. I

00:13:42can't remember. I mean, I think back to you and I'll be in 89

00:13:44when he won by 30 in Denver against Duke, but that was a

00:13:48beat down of epic proportion. Both games. You look at Paige

00:13:52Becker's arguably one of his most favorite players. Well,

00:13:54at least according to Paige. She is one of Gino's favorite

00:13:57players of all time. It's figured out. That's when you

00:14:00got on top. I talked to a couple different coaches like

00:14:03last night. One said, would it be surprised? A good friend

00:14:07says the good, the point I keep forgetting is, well, you do

00:14:11have Sarah Strong for three more years. So you do have a

00:14:14big time player to go with, but the recruiting class isn't what

00:14:18it has been in the past. So maybe that's another mind

00:14:22really quick to South Carolina guys. I feel like this needs to

00:14:24be addressed. Ben is going to go in exactly where I'm going.

00:14:28Something is going on with Malaysia for Wiley. I don't know

00:14:32what it is. I don't know what it is. She is the best going on

00:14:36that team. You saw Gillette law and other assistance pleading

00:14:40the dawn to get this girl in the game. You have Johnson

00:14:44Johnson, Papago about three for 19 for the floor. And the only

00:14:48kid that can get you a bucket is sitting on the bench in

00:14:52critical moments. Not just this game. They started out slow

00:14:55against Texas. What happened then? Who was on the bench?

00:14:58That's right. Malaysia for Wiley. She gets in the game.

00:15:01She gets a couple of buckets. Now she goes back to the bench.

00:15:04Something's going on. And the same friend of told me that

00:15:07don't be surprised. You don't leave. Also said, don't be

00:15:09surprised for Wiley ends up in the portal. Something's going

00:15:12on in South Carolina. We don't know about one of the best

00:15:15guards in the country in her two years in Columbia, Malaysia

00:15:18for Wiley has largely come off the bench for South Carolina. A

00:15:23very deep team. Don Staley really ran it 10 deep this year

00:15:26for the Gamecocks, but that would be interesting as we

00:15:29define legacy. Of course, no more successful coach in D1

00:15:33college basketball, men's or women's when it comes to

00:15:35winning national championships than Gino Oriema. And now with

00:15:391250 career wins that also the most in the sport as well. But

00:15:44in terms of a legacy four page backers, JY, you mentioned it

00:15:48earlier, miss the entirety of the 2022 23 season with a knee

00:15:53injury returned last year to lead Connecticut back to a

00:15:57final four this year, a national championship game in the first

00:16:00national title since 2016. When we think back on page

00:16:05backers, one of the all-time greats at UConn, one of the

00:16:08all-time greats in women's college basketball. How does

00:16:11her legacy change with a national championship

00:16:14yesterday? It changes everything, right? Because

00:16:17you've heard some of the old guards, the Tarazis, the birds

00:16:20say, even when the knock on Caitlin Clark was, she didn't

00:16:24win a national title, which is actually a hogwash, but now

00:16:27she's got her national title page backers and it brings up

00:16:30an interesting point, Ben, that I'm going to ask you

00:16:33because I, you know, you want as much basketball and so does

00:16:36Donnie. I don't even know. This is crazy. I don't even know.

00:16:39She's on Mount Rushmore for UConn, but you figure Maya

00:16:44Moore, you figure Sue Bird, you figure Tarazi. Who's the fourth?

00:16:49Is it her? Is it Lobo? Is it Rosati? Is it Tina Charles? I

00:16:54mean, we, is it Stewie? There's so many, they need a Mount

00:16:57Rushmore of like 10 players on it, but her legacy is one that

00:17:02came up with a lot of fanfare. I remember seeing her play for

00:17:05the Minnesota, for the Minnesota Metro Stars in AAU,

00:17:08back when I was a mom, thoroughly impressed with her

00:17:10game. She has lived up to the goods. She's going to go into

00:17:14the WNBA and her legacy will continue as she tries to forge

00:17:19a new path, starting with the WNBA draft, which I do believe

00:17:22is tomorrow. Tomorrow is the WNBA draft. I saw it somewhere

00:17:27in the next week. I know. Yeah, I think today is where you have

00:17:29the deadline to buy. Maybe I'm all five companies.

00:17:35Paige Beckers is going to be the number one overall pick in

00:17:38the WNBA draft. I'm trying to find, yeah, a week from today,

00:17:43April 14th. Who holds that number one pick? Dallas.

00:17:47Dallas. Gotta get her to Indiana. Gotta get her to Indiana.

00:17:52I know. That was the question really quick was, she doesn't

00:17:55want to go to Dallas. She wanted LA. That's why I think

00:17:58there was a little bit of weight of her going pro. Oh,

00:18:02interesting. All right. Well, now we get ready for the

00:18:05National Championship on this Monday. Next. National

00:18:09Championship Monday in San Antonio. Our scouting report

00:18:13with the coach, JY James Young. Before we dive deep into

00:18:16tonight's matchup, where the coach thinks there are

00:18:19advantages and edges to be had, we look back one final time on

00:18:24a sensational Final Four Saturday inside the Alamo Dome.

00:18:28Donnie and myself live for the opening game of two that night.

00:18:31Florida and Auburn. The coach, JY, alongside Kevin Walsh for

00:18:36the night cap between Duke and Houston in one of the great

00:18:39Final Four games we have seen in history. Of course, one of

00:18:43the most memorable finishes the sport has ever seen. JY, as you

00:18:47and K-Dubs are sitting there on the desk watching a Houston

00:18:51team trail by 14 with 817 remaining. Watching a Houston

00:18:55team trail by nine with just over two minutes to go. Watching

00:19:00a Houston team trail by six with just about 35 seconds left

00:19:05in regulation. But they keep finding their way back in

00:19:09closer and sticking around. What were some of the initial

00:19:12thoughts in your mind? Honestly, Ben, the first thought

00:19:16in my mind happened in the first half when Houston was three

00:19:20of 15, three of 16 for the floor and couldn't buy a bucket.

00:19:24And I said to Kevin, they need to get this lead to six by

00:19:27halftime. If you remember, they went three, three, three. I

00:19:31think it was Cryer, Cryer, Usain. Back to back to back.

00:19:35They got the lead to six and I said, okay, if you're Calvin

00:19:38Sampson, you're walking into the room and saying, we were

00:19:40god-awful and we're down six. Stay the course. Stay the

00:19:45course. Something will break. But then when Cooper Flagg hit

00:19:48that wing three to make it 6455, we all thought it was

00:19:51game over. But something interesting happened with Duke.

00:19:55Duke got more worried about bleeding clock than running

00:20:00offense and it allowed Houston to get back into it. You also

00:20:05saw Cooper Flagg look completely cooked. I mean, this

00:20:09guy was walking up the up the floor sometimes on offense and

00:20:13that five minutes and 19 seconds of average mile that

00:20:17the Houston Cougars run, you saw it. There were so many

00:20:21pivotal plays, but the main thing I took out of it, Ben, is

00:20:26that game by Houston was not one on Saturday night. It was

00:20:31one in September in the preseason with the practices

00:20:35with the constant chaos that Calvin Sampson does. It was one

00:20:40and playing close games after close games, losing three games

00:20:44in overtime. Duke, when the moment got big, Ben, they

00:20:48didn't know what to do on either side of the ball and

00:20:51it's almost like as the game got closer, you saw Houston

00:20:54almost pick themselves up knowing that they had a chance

00:20:57to steal the game. Keep fighting all the way through to

00:21:00the end. Another comeback kid story. They're the Florida

00:21:02Gators multiple times now coming back in the past couple

00:21:05games against elite competition. What happened in

00:21:07this game? Coach 46 to 38. Auburn did whatever they wanted

00:21:11to on offense against the Florida Gators. Second half, 27

00:21:15points. What were the changes you saw in the second half,

00:21:17which allowed Florida to come back and win that basketball

00:21:19game? Well, I talked about on betting about the rim earlier

00:21:23in the day is the fact of you have three bigs that you're

00:21:27going to run at Jani Broome and Jani Broome was going to break

00:21:32down. I remember, Donnie, you were and I talked about it with

00:21:34you guys last week, 23 to eight last, you know, I got to

00:21:37Michigan State when Jani Broome couldn't score on the bench.

00:21:40They were in trouble and that's exactly what happened. Jani

00:21:43Broome fast start, 12 points, first half, three points in the

00:21:47second half and there was a critical moment. I think it was

00:21:51about three minutes left to go. He got the ball. He lowered his

00:21:55right shoulder. Condit took it square on the chest, took the

00:21:58charge and Donnie, I don't know if Jani Broome got the ball ever

00:22:02again. Like they, they had, they didn't know what to do. He

00:22:06started bombing away and it looked undisciplined. Florida

00:22:10relied on their depth. They relied on all of their

00:22:13personnel, Elijah Martin, with some, some, I mean, some filthy

00:22:18dunks in addition. I mean, one of them like Air Jordan, the

00:22:21way he took, I'm like, too far, too far to go. Yeah, that's

00:22:24why you got, you got it. But to me, that was the key. And then

00:22:28obviously Walter Clayton Jr. Lord have mercy. I mean, Kevin's

00:22:32going to take all credit teaching them how to shoot

00:22:34coming from my owner. We all know that's not the truth, but

00:22:37Walter Clayton Jr. Was putting on big shot after big shot. And

00:22:43to me, which was stunning is especially late in the game. I

00:22:47would have doubled him all over the floor. He touches the ball.

00:22:51I'm running a second defender on and I'm telling let someone

00:22:54else beat me because basically Walter Clayton did it a lot on

00:22:58his own. 34 points, five of eight from beyond the arc.

00:23:02Walter Clayton Jr. The first player in the men's NCAA

00:23:06tournament since Larry Bird in 1979 to score at least 30

00:23:10points in back-to-back games in the elite eight and the final

00:23:13four, the two most significant stages of a season at that

00:23:17point. But now it's a national championship game for Walter

00:23:21Clayton Jr. His Florida Gators taking on the Houston Cougars

00:23:25J Y after one of the best final four Saturday nights we have

00:23:28seen in totality in recent memory. It sets the stage for a

00:23:33Monday night inside the Alamo Dome for a national

00:23:36championship game. It is basically a pick them Florida

00:23:39and ever so slight favorite total is 140 and a half. Where

00:23:44do you begin your breakdown for tonight's national title tilt?

00:23:49Honestly, with the referees, we have to see how this game's

00:23:53going to be efficient. I don't think people understand like

00:23:56she was able to be physical on the ball with Duke in the

00:23:59second half very rarely call for fouls to the referee stay

00:24:04out of the way and let this game be decided by the players.

00:24:09If that does that leans in Houston's favor because of their

00:24:13physicality defensively. If they let this game get to the

00:24:18following up and down, you may see Houston get in the foul

00:24:21trouble. That's where the trouble was. I've been on

00:24:24Houston

00:24:26since day one, even when it wasn't a value play, even though

00:24:30I thought in my mind of the value play, but it wasn't a

00:24:32value play. I'm going to stay with Houston bad because I look

00:24:37at that team and that togetherness and their ability

00:24:40to defend and the ability to have three, not one, not two,

00:24:45but three elite guards. I can make shots. You saw Calvin

00:24:50to smartly go to manual shot off the ball on the ball. Look

00:24:55for him to find the mismatch at the guard spot and exploited.

00:24:58I like Houston on the money line to get the wet.

00:25:01We're going to try to find those advantages in terms of how

00:25:04these two teams match up the tail of the tape between two

00:25:07college basketball programs that this season have won 35

00:25:12games in total. Florida has already won two national

00:25:15championships. Hoping for number three in program history

00:25:18tonight, Houston, hoping for its first ever in Kelvin

00:25:22Sampson, seeking his first as a head coach as well. Plenty

00:25:25more with our coach next live right here on this national

00:25:29championship Monday around out our second hour with the coach

00:25:34James Young, J Y J Y. When we look at the total for tonight's

00:25:37national title game between Houston and Florida, you really

00:25:40could make an argument. It is rather correlated. It's 1 40

00:25:44and a half knowing how these two teams want to match up.

00:25:47If Florida, the slight money line favorite by just seven

00:25:51cents is to be crowned a national champ tonight. Does

00:25:54this total push to and over if Houston wins their first ever

00:25:57national championship in program history? Does this game

00:26:01stay under courtesy of the nation's most efficient defense?

00:26:05What do you think the total means for the result of

00:26:09tonight's national title game? It's very simple and you said

00:26:12it. If you think Houston's winning it, you're parlaying

00:26:16Houston in the under. If you think Florida's winning it,

00:26:19you're parlaying Florida over because I think like I said, it

00:26:22comes down to number one, the referees. If the referees are

00:26:25calling this game extremely tight and you get to the foul

00:26:28line, that's going to be free points for Florida. You're

00:26:30going to probably see guys like, you know, Juwan Roberts or

00:26:34you know, or others get into foul trouble. But if the game

00:26:37stays under, it's a Houston win because they were able to

00:26:40dictate tempo and pace. And I think that's the interesting

00:26:44thing is, it's going to be a battle of wills. And that's why

00:26:48you even look at the team totals. They're right at

00:26:51seven-and-a-half. If the money is coming basically right down

00:26:55the middle and this was a, this was a hypothetical line. If I'm

00:26:59not mistaken from as soon as the final four was set and it

00:27:03hasn't moved for in a week. So that tells you how even this

00:27:07game is down the middle. To me, it's going to be about Houston's

00:27:11playing, playing defensively. That game looked like it was

00:27:13going to go over on Saturday. Houston put that thing to a

00:27:17screeching halt. I still think it's going under 140-and-a-half,

00:27:21which tells you who I think is going to win the game.

00:27:24We take a look at these two teams, obviously two superstar

00:27:26players on both sides. Walter Clayton Jr. is going to take

00:27:29Florida as far as they can. That means one more game to a

00:27:31championship. LJ Choir as well for Houston. If we remove those

00:27:35two players coach from the equation, any secondary players

00:27:38that we might be looking at because Alex Condon, four

00:27:41straight games for the Florida Gators, milk carton box out

00:27:43here on offense, who needs to step up for either one of these

00:27:46two programs outside of their superstars? Well, if you guys

00:27:50could pull back up those odds to win MOP, to me, you're going

00:27:55to think I'm crazy. I think it's Elijah Martin at 29-1 because

00:27:59if this game gets out in transition a little bit, that's

00:28:02when he can excel. He's got experience in the final four,

00:28:05maybe a couple of steals and dunks, maybe guards LJ Choir.

00:28:09That's where I would look at there. If you look at Houston,

00:28:12I've said it a.k.a. Manny Sharp, a.k.a. Manny Fresh,

00:28:17manual sharp is going to be the one that's going to hit big

00:28:20shots. If you think about it, he was ice cold again. Well, who

00:28:24had two of the more pivotal plays on Saturday, the manual

00:28:28sharp three, and then the manual sharp steel, which I still

00:28:32don't know why Wilson dribbled out the three-point line and

00:28:34shot, but I digress. They still got the offensive putback.

00:28:37That's okay. So to me, it's a manual sharp Manny Fresh for

00:28:41Houston and Elijah Martin at 29-1 for Florida. I do think

00:28:46there is some value in both of those numbers. More than likely

00:28:49if Florida wins the national championship, Walter Clayton

00:28:52Jr. After what he did in the final four with 34, he's

00:28:55probably going to go home with the MOP hardware. LJ Choir, the

00:28:59shortest price for Houston, but a lot of value with the Cougs.

00:29:02He highlighted Emmanuel Sharp, his matchups tonight against

00:29:05the Gators defense. JY, we know there is going to be a ton of

00:29:09physicality on display in this national championship game

00:29:12between the Gators and the Cougs. From a coaching

00:29:15perspective, what do you think either coach, Todd Golden for

00:29:19his Gators, Kelvin Sampson for his Cougs, is reminding their

00:29:22team in preparation on this Monday for how the game flow is

00:29:26going to look tonight? It's going to be physical. If I'm

00:29:31Todd Golden, I'm telling my team I'm one of the biggest and

00:29:34best offensive rebounding teams in the country. Houston is not

00:29:37going to want to get in transition. We must own the

00:29:41boards. We must attack the boards with our bigs to try and

00:29:44get Tugler, Francis and Roberts in foul trouble. If you're

00:29:48Houston, stay the course, run your offense. You did see at

00:29:52times, Cryer and Usain try to do too much offensively. Let the

00:29:56game come to you. A couple of props. I like, I don't think

00:29:59there's any way in hell Kelvin Sampson. Let's Walter Clayton

00:30:02Jr. Get to 20 points. I look at him to go under and the

00:30:06junkyard dog is going to have an impact. Juwan Roberts to go

00:30:10over his rebounding prop tonight. He is someone that's

00:30:13critical to this game. He offered to rebound the ball

00:30:16well in the first game. He's going to try and use his

00:30:18toughness and his physicality to attack the boards. He brought

00:30:22it on Saturday night. No doubt. 11 points, 12 boards, five

00:30:27dimes, two steals and a block for Juwan Roberts. He is one of

00:30:31the leaders of this Houston program. The Cougs hoping for

00:30:35that first ever national championship for the ever so

00:30:38slight favorite to cut down the nets. JYA fade away to the

00:30:41break, but we'll see you tonight. 8 p.m. Eastern time on

00:30:45Brackett Central. Hour three for us. Welcome to our number

00:30:49three, our third and final on this Monday, but not just any

00:30:53ordinary Monday to start off a new week on the early line. It

00:30:57is national championship Monday in college basketball tonight

00:31:00in San Antonio. It's Houston. It's Florida. A matchup, of

00:31:04course, of two number one seeds looking for a national

00:31:08championship to cut down the nets to climb a ladder and be

00:31:11atop the pinnacle of this sport. We will continue to

00:31:15break down our national championship game throughout

00:31:17the entirety of this third and final hour. We'll dive deep

00:31:21into the prompts as well here before we end out our show. Our

00:31:25guy, TV Tom Vecchia with us up next to go not only into a

00:31:30national championship game, but Alexander Ovechkin's March to

00:31:34history that was capped off yesterday with goal number 895

00:31:38and we'll talk a little MLB with one of the two hosts

00:31:41alongside his co-host of Pro Baseball today, that being TV

00:31:47and DRS. But to start this third hour, we've got to hear

00:31:50from the people, Donnie, a lot to get to in this third and

00:31:53final hour on national championship Monday. On a

00:31:56championship Monday and again, not really a lot of talk just

00:31:59yet here on the Masters. It's a great week. It's one of those

00:32:01weeks that I look at them where you say to yourself like we

00:32:03understand Major League Baseball usually means the

00:32:05unofficial start to the spring season, but you know where you

00:32:07actually say it not on your TV like it was cold in Philadelphia

00:32:10yesterday in a big series against the Dodgers, but we can

00:32:13get those blue skies down at Augusta, Georgia, the Azaleas

00:32:17in full bloom. It's like now we've made at this point. We

00:32:19just need the northeast to get a little bit warmer and also

00:32:22have that sun peek out up here. So it's a great week. It's a

00:32:25championship game tonight. We say goodbye to another season

00:32:28and by the way, like we do this at every end of the season.

00:32:30Like where did the college basketball season go? It's

00:32:33crazy. Like it starts like October and November and

00:32:36December all the way through and now we're finally here on

00:32:38the final day and not forgetting of how much fun the

00:32:41last month has been particularly with conference

00:32:44tournament week leading into selection Sunday and then the

00:32:46tournament itself. It's a shame, but before you know it,

00:32:49we'll be talking to Duke Blue Devils and the Kentucky

00:32:51Wildcats next October as well with another season. Just

00:32:53amazing how fast these seasons actually go even for DRS, whose

00:32:58college basketball season really starts in February and

00:33:02comes to a close tonight. It can really fly by Donny. There

00:33:06will be so many things to break down for us tomorrow at the

00:33:09conclusion of this college basketball season. Looking

00:33:12forward to the next campaign, the national championship odds

00:33:15for this year or for next year at this time in 2026 are

00:33:20already out. So much is going to change though. The transfer

00:33:23portal is about to be bonkers. It has already been bonkers,

00:33:27but Duke in Houston right now, the early frontrunners to win

00:33:30a national championship next year, and those were the two

00:33:34teams of course that gave us one of the all-time great final

00:33:36four matchups on Saturday night. But how about this

00:33:40national championship game? It's Florida. It's Houston. It's a

00:33:44virtual pick'em with a total of 140 and a half. What is the

00:33:48best bet with a title at stake? The question to all of you in

00:33:52Fade the Public.

00:34:00At Sports Grid on Twitter, what is the best bet for tonight's

00:34:04national championship game? Is it Florida as the ever so

00:34:07slight favorite, a point and a half in the spread, minus 113,

00:34:11the updated number on the money line? Is it Houston, the ever

00:34:14so slight underdog, minus 106 money line, getting a point and

00:34:19a half? Or is it correlated in that total? Our over under

00:34:22currently stands at 140 and a hook. Open at 141 and a half

00:34:27late on Saturday night or I guess early on Sunday morning.

00:34:31Already down by a point. 140 and a half. The over, the under.

00:34:35Most of the public DRS. I don't know if most is the right word.

00:34:39A slight edge in the public votes for Florida at 39%.

00:34:44Houston, though, not trailing far behind at 35%. The under

00:34:49getting more love than the over, which I find very

00:34:53interesting because the public loves it over, especially in

00:34:57the final game of a college basketball campaign and most of

00:35:01the public on the under. Noted. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not. I'm not

00:35:06surprised actually where we're going but I think the most

00:35:09surprising thing is that the over is only 8.8%. You

00:35:12shouldn't get anywhere around a 5050 split with an over and

00:35:15under is an amazing feat and now you take a look at the over

00:35:18coming in at 8.7%, which is kind of interesting, but I do

00:35:21think we are at a true coin flip for this game just

00:35:24depending on which side that you like. Obviously, Florida

00:35:26and or Houston for me. I voted Houston the plus one and a half

00:35:30in this game, but I don't think I'm going to actually have a

00:35:32side wager per se. I am more interested and we'll get to

00:35:34some of those player props and maybe even a total look because

00:35:37I do think the under is the right play around 140 and a

00:35:40half because I do think the slower start might actually

00:35:42come into play, but for me, I'm not surprised like in a one

00:35:45and a half point spread. We don't have an overwhelming

00:35:47favorite here on this poll with Florida at 39% at minus one

00:35:50and a half getting the total the total of the vote right now,

00:35:53but Houston certainly worthy opponent. It's just a matter of

00:35:56what you're thinking out of Houston. Very good basketball

00:36:00team that they get lucky to be Duke. It doesn't matter has no

00:36:02impact on the game or the match up tonight and also Ken

00:36:05Florida and Walter Clayton just say you know what I'm just

00:36:07better than everybody on the basketball court. I'm going to

00:36:09win another game for my squad here. It's a fun game to

00:36:12break down. It's a fun match that we had and I'm glad that

00:36:14it's one and a half points because we're not looking at

00:36:16nine or ten points. Ben should be a blow up not tonight. We're

00:36:19looking at going either way and I like that and Donnie. This

00:36:22was the hope right as we got ready for this weekend in San

00:36:26Antonio with four of the best basketball teams we have seen

00:36:29in college hoops in the last 25 plus years. We have shared this

00:36:33stat so many times, but all four of our one seeds had a

00:36:37pre-NCAA tournament Ken Palm net rating of plus 35 or better

00:36:41three total teams in the previous 20 NCAA tournaments

00:36:46had a plus 35 net rating or better. According to Ken Palm,

00:36:50we were hoping for this because this tournament hasn't had that

00:36:54Cinderella. It hasn't had many magical March moments a couple

00:36:58the Derek Queen buzzer beater, of course for Maryland in the

00:37:01round of 32 that dramatic comeback for Texas Tech in the

00:37:04sweet 16 against Arkansas and then Florida to Texas Tech in

00:37:09the elite eight and then what we got on Saturday, both with

00:37:12four to second half rally and the all SEC showdown against

00:37:15Auburn and of course, matching the third largest comeback ever

00:37:19in Final Four history and how the Cougars did it stunning Duke

00:37:22down the stretch, including in the final 35 seconds as good of

00:37:26a Final Four as we can remember in recent memory, but a

00:37:30tournament oftentimes is only as good as its lasting memory

00:37:35and that is a national championship game. And this is

00:37:39what we want. We will have a one seed when a national

00:37:42championship that of course the RS will be the fifth time in

00:37:45the last six years, the 26th time in the 40 NCAA tournaments

00:37:50since the field expanded to 64 in 1985, our 14th one seed to

00:37:56win a national championship in the last 18 seasons. If Houston

00:38:00wins, however, tonight and they're an ever so slight

00:38:02underdog, Moneyline has adjusted now minus 114 for

00:38:06Florida minus 105 on the other side for the Cougs. If Houston

00:38:11wins tonight, they will be the first national champion in 21

00:38:15seasons to win said national championship without being

00:38:20ranked inside the top 12 of the week six AP poll dating back to

00:38:24Syracuse in 2003. That would be an interesting trend. Florida

00:38:30was in the top 12 of the week six AP poll, but as we look at

00:38:35this game, Donnie and as the public is sharing, it is really

00:38:39too close to call. We have nine cents of difference on the

00:38:42Moneyline and a total of 140 and this game should live up to

00:38:49its billing and I really, really, really hope it matches

00:38:52the expectation we have set for it on this Monday night in San

00:38:55Antonio. Should get a good one. Hopefully, it's just a clean

00:38:58game all the way through close game at the half close game

00:39:00down the stretch. That's what most fans are rooting for

00:39:03outside of your betting interest, but also understand

00:39:05this. The FanDuel Sportsbook open at line at Florida minus

00:39:07one and a half still sits at minus one and a half. Other

00:39:10outlets have moved that line to minus one. You take a look at

00:39:13the totals there. The 141 and a half here now down to 140 and a

00:39:16half live at the FanDuel Sportsbook still 141 and a half

00:39:19out there in the atmosphere. I want to see where this line

00:39:22closes at. Would anybody be surprised if this game goes to

00:39:24a de facto pick them by game time? I don't think so at this

00:39:27point, but it's clear right now that Florida does have a

00:39:29little bit more of that jump. Is Florida the better overall

00:39:31team per se? Probably so, but again, are we going to doubt

00:39:34like Duke was the immovable object that got moved there in

00:39:38the craziest fashion on Saturday night. Do we have

00:39:40enough energy left in the tank for the Houston Cougars and

00:39:43Kelvin Sampson? We'll find that play out, but I just love the

00:39:45fact that we're entering into a game that is a de facto coin

00:39:48flip with the odds makers that sets us up for some pretty good

00:39:51fun tonight. Yeah, it certainly does and I really hope it lives

00:39:55up to it. I expect that to be the case back to our national

00:39:59championship previews a little bit later on, but you know it's

00:40:02going to be a lot of fun to watch tonight. A game in

00:40:04National College basketball between the Florida, excuse me,

00:40:08Florida Gators and the Houston Cougars. Understand this

00:40:11opening lines here. Once we saw this Tom minus one and a half

00:40:14still sitting at one and a half here at the FanDuel Sportsbook,

00:40:16a total of 140 and a half. Your initial thoughts on this game

00:40:19when that line hit and also where do you think this line

00:40:22might be by the time we get the game time tonight? Yeah, you

00:40:24guys were just touching on the last segment. I think here's

00:40:27the real answer. If if anyone out there reads anything today,

00:40:31here's anything today and they someone you hear someone say

00:40:33like they know how this game is going to end up. They're lying

00:40:36right. This game is as pure of a coin flip as we've ever seen.

00:40:39It is one Donnie. You said it could end up being a pick them

00:40:42140 may drop to 139. This game is a toss up, but that's

00:40:45honestly great like we don't want to see an eight point

00:40:47spread in the national championship. We want to see a

00:40:49game where either team deserves to win. Either team can win and

00:40:53it's honestly going to. It's like it's going to come down to

00:40:55like who performs who has the ball last second and that's

00:40:58what we should be. So I'm on the under first half under 65

00:41:01and a half. I think that's the spot to go a little bit of

00:41:04feeling out. I wouldn't be surprised to see if there's

00:41:06some real value in taking live overs in the game. Once the

00:41:09teams get settled in, I'm not really worried about the site

00:41:12lines, which is you know something a lot of people

00:41:14talked about in the final four, which is a concern, but the

00:41:17players have been there like they've kind of adjusted to

00:41:19that. Obviously, it's not the same court in the same

00:41:21backdrop, all those sorts of things, but first half under

00:41:23just because a little bit nerves, whatever it might be,

00:41:26but second half over live overs is the spot I'm going to be

00:41:29looking. So yeah, there will be that feeling out process

00:41:33between these two teams. There is no doubt and a lot of

00:41:36physicality expected early often and throughout in this

00:41:40national championship game. Vecchio the total for the game

00:41:43is 140 and a half, even if you're on the first half under,

00:41:46but you expect more scoring in the second half. Do you

00:41:49correlate that total to who ends up cutting down the nets

00:41:53as a national champion tonight in San Antonio? Yeah, I think

00:41:57you have to have your side, right? And if you got to be on,

00:42:00you know, Houston, you got to be on the full game first half,

00:42:02whatever it might be. I will say a part of me thinks that if

00:42:06Florida falls behind in the first half, there's going to be

00:42:08a lot of value and it's not going to be like some hot take

00:42:10like people are going to be rushing to bat Florida in the

00:42:12second half, but they do fall behind just because their

00:42:14offense is so good. Now, the question is, is how how long

00:42:18can like Houston withstand that storm? Like their defense

00:42:21is awesome. But at a certain point, will the offense from

00:42:24the Gators break through? So a second half spread for Florida

00:42:28could be very enticing. Tom, we were talking to the coach a

00:42:32little bit earlier in the show and we're saying to ourselves

00:42:34like, hey, there's some other players to take a look at here

00:42:36like Walter Clayton Jr. We know is great, you know, Smith

00:42:38Crier, excuse me, Crier on the opposite side here for Houston.

00:42:41But how about this Alex Condon who Ben and I have been having

00:42:43to focus on a couple games just saying, you know what I

00:42:46wanted this guy could provide. He doesn't even look to take

00:42:48shots at this point, Tom. So most people look towards overs

00:42:51in the tournament and betting games. Looks like maybe the

00:42:54under on the forecast here for the big guy. Yeah, I'm going

00:42:57with under on eight and a half points. Like it's a little bit

00:42:59juiced at minus 130. But when push comes to shove, like where's

00:43:03the offense going to be going for the Gators going to be

00:43:04Clayton, Martin and how like kind of in that order and he's

00:43:08just not seeing the volume of temps, maybe some foul issues

00:43:11as well. This points to an under for me. Yeah, it really

00:43:15does. Of course, Alex Condon scoring only one point on

00:43:20Saturday in the final four despite myself having an over

00:43:23ten and a half points prop bet on Condon. He has only scored

00:43:27in double figures once for the Gators in this tournament back

00:43:31in the round of 64 opener. And of course, some of the points

00:43:35props are slightly depressed for everybody on the Gators

00:43:37because they are playing the nation's most efficient defense.

00:43:40That being the Houston Cougars. Vecchio before we get to a

00:43:43national championship game tonight or just elsewhere

00:43:46outside of college basketball. So we get ready for a new week

00:43:49in MLB. What's the play on this Monday on the diamond? Yeah,

00:43:54let's go to the Dodgers and let's go to Dustin May who

00:43:57looked pretty good in his first start. He obviously did not

00:43:59pitch last year. Let's go over four and a half strikeouts

00:44:02seeing a minus 128 going up against the Nats today to start

00:44:05the season. Small sample size Nationals. They have a 25.3%

00:44:08strikeout rate versus right-handed pitching. That's

00:44:10in the bottom ten in the league. Dustin May again didn't

00:44:13pitch last year, but in his first start 81 pitches six

00:44:15strikeouts five and five innings pitched. I think this

00:44:19is a spot where we're going to see this line move up to five

00:44:22and a half. I have seen it in five and a half at other books,

00:44:24but four and a half minus 128. I've probably played to about

00:44:26minus 140 and that's the spot. I really like also I have some

00:44:30hit parlays coming up, which will I will of course be

00:44:32tweeting out. We hit on some of those yesterday. Heck yeah

00:44:35Vecchio. We appreciate that the Dodgers on the road in the

00:44:38nation's capital against those Nationals after dropping two of

00:44:42three against Donnie's Phil's this weekend. So a nine and two

00:44:46start to the campaign for the Dodgers and Dustin May in his

00:44:49return in more than a year look pretty good for LA in his

00:44:52season debut TV. Tom Vecchio the prop perspective on that

00:44:56Monday. Tom as always we appreciate the time. Thanks for

00:44:59being here. Of course. Thanks for having me. More from the

00:45:02National Championship game comes going up next. For the

00:45:05next 25 plus minutes, you can consider this your National

00:45:09Championship home for every best bet breakdown and preview

00:45:13of tonight's title game inside the Alamo Dome between Florida

00:45:17and Houston. We are on this National Championship Monday

00:45:21early on this biz grizz network on the early line. Let's

00:45:25continue to dive deep and give you every angle of this game DRS

00:45:30where it stands right now virtually a pick them Florida

00:45:33and ever so slight favorite point and a half in the spread

00:45:37minus 114 on the money line a total of 140 and a half Houston

00:45:42on the other side and ever so slight dog minus 105. We're

00:45:46talking nine cents of difference. Donnie. Let's start

00:45:50there with how this game is going to look tonight in San

00:45:54Antonio when all is said and done and a team is getting ready

00:45:57to climb a ladder to cut down the nets. Will this game be as

00:46:01close decided by this tight of margin as the oddsmakers expect?

00:46:06Yeah, granted. Yeah, we're not going to predict a one point

00:46:08game here. Try to nail that either way on who wins, but the

00:46:11expectations are close and the reason being is Houston tends to

00:46:14play those lower scoring games because of their tempo. Overall,

00:46:17we know Florida wants to play at a much higher tempo than

00:46:19Houston does. It'll be interesting who dictates it, but

00:46:21I don't think that if Florida gets out and running, is it

00:46:23like Houston just can't comprehend what's going on?

00:46:26Houston has had some games that had some elevated scoring and

00:46:29they were fine in those basketball games, but when you

00:46:31take a look at coming down to the end, it just sometimes if

00:46:34you have one team that runs fast, the other team that runs

00:46:36fast, one team doesn't play all that well, but you still have

00:46:38that high tempo. That's where you get the 10, 15 and 20 point

00:46:41victories, but the way Houston plays, like if Houston gets up

00:46:4410 points, let's just say with 10 minutes to go in the game,

00:46:48they're probably going to do something similar to like Duke

00:46:49did, but again, Duke's not used to slowing the game down at an

00:46:52ultra slow tempo like Houston does where they're just playing

00:46:54their game, which means limited possessions. Make a couple

00:46:57stops here and there. You're right back into it. Houston

00:47:00with a 10 point lead isn't looking at taking it to 20

00:47:02points there with their offense. Houston's 10 point

00:47:05leaders going like, yeah, we'll win this game by 10 with eight

00:47:07minutes to go because we'll just play great defense and take

00:47:09our advantage shots when we get those here. So I think we're

00:47:12envisioning, I would put it this way, surprised to see a 10

00:47:16point plus victory tonight. Absolutely. Absolutely. So and

00:47:20Donnie, I do think that if either team, I was going to say

00:47:23both of these teams have been incredibly tremendous about

00:47:27coming back from deficits throughout the NCAA tournament.

00:47:31I was going to say if there's a 10 plus point margin at any

00:47:34point, it's difficult for both of these teams against their

00:47:37opponent tonight inside the Alamo dome to construct a

00:47:40comeback. If you're playing against Houston, they are so

00:47:42sound, they are so slow. It's going to be hard to kind of

00:47:46carve into that margin, but we've seen Florida do that

00:47:48throughout this NCAA tournament as well, and I was going to say

00:47:52if the Cougs start trailing by double digits, they're not

00:47:55exactly built to play at an uptempo pace to score bucket

00:47:58after bucket after bucket to start a comeback. And yet they

00:48:02held due to one made field goal in the final 10 and a half

00:48:04minutes of regulation and matched the third largest

00:48:07comeback ever in final four history. So maybe we toss that

00:48:10idea out the window, but of course, at least based on what

00:48:13we expect pregame difficult to be down by 12 and try to make

00:48:19this game a competitive contest. Of course, everybody

00:48:22wants to stay close, and I think that will be really

00:48:24important for Florida. Donnie, you mentioned Duke's tempo. They

00:48:28actually play a little bit slower, certainly in the half

00:48:31court. They want you to play slow when they are defending

00:48:34you on that side of the floor and their tempo around 268-269

00:48:38at a 364 for a good majority of the season. Florida's top 60.

00:48:43Florida wants to play with pace. Florida had started the

00:48:46NCAA tournament with four straight overs, 11 consecutive

00:48:50overs, including those first four games in the big dance.

00:48:54Very opposite of what Houston wants to do. The fifth slowest

00:48:57team in all of college hoops. How much do you think that

00:49:02tempo battle will dictate our outcome tonight in San Antonio?

00:49:06I mean, I don't know how much it will because I don't expect

00:49:08a high running game because that's why we don't have 155

00:49:11and a half. It's still a decent total. Like if you probably

00:49:13took Ben like during the average of the regular season

00:49:15in college basketball, what's an average total? It's probably

00:49:18140, right? 130 is a slower tempo. 120 is really slow. 155

00:49:23real fast. So 140 is probably the average here, but I do

00:49:25think it plays into Houston just a little bit more because

00:49:28as I said, it's not one of those teams where it's Virginia

00:49:31per se like, oh my goodness. If Virginia's down seven points

00:49:35with seven minutes to go, they might not have two possessions

00:49:37left because of how slow they like to have tempo. Like Houston

00:49:39can engage. Like they're not built on we have two seven foot

00:49:42one giants on the low block. That's why we're sloping down

00:49:45the court. They have athletic guard. They just choose to play

00:49:48at that tempo because it fits their defensive footprint and

00:49:50they capitalize on mistakes from the other basketball team.

00:49:53So for me, I don't the dictating of either style. I

00:49:56don't really think it comes into play. Like yes, we know

00:49:58Houston wants to move faster than Houston, but I don't think

00:50:00this is an impose your will type of game because I think both

00:50:03of these teams can play either style to be honest. It's a

00:50:06really good point DRS. I'm not sure if this game gets up a

00:50:09little bit in terms of at least pace. If that means Houston

00:50:12can't keep up with Florida and if the game is slow, the Gators

00:50:16efficient enough on the offensive end second most

00:50:18efficient offense at this point to still find some quality

00:50:22possession. Plenty more as we get ready for tonight in

00:50:25San Antonio. Next, we continue to preview tonight's national

00:50:28championship game. Our final college basketball contest of

00:50:32this season. He is Donnie right side. I am Ben Stevens. Of

00:50:35course, it is a matchup of one seeds tonight with a

00:50:38championship on the line. It is Florida. It is Houston. It is a

00:50:42point and a half spread. It is nine cents of difference on the

00:50:46money line and it's a total of 140 and a hook. Donnie as we

00:50:50have looked at game flow, both you and I expect this game to

00:50:52be close. A single digit margin more than likely will be

00:50:56decided by a point. Probably not a single digit margin. I

00:51:00think that is pretty fair. Either team can play the either

00:51:04style. However, Houston wants to be slower. Florida wants to

00:51:07play a little bit at a faster tempo. Let's talk total now.

00:51:11Donnie as you look at this game, if you were to bet it, if

00:51:15you were to pick a team to cut down the nets, what would that

00:51:17then mean for your thought on the total? I think the total

00:51:22stays under regardless of who wins the game tonight and I

00:51:24know the easy correlation once again and I'm not gonna, you

00:51:27know, get angry at anybody who says like, okay, well, if

00:51:30Houston wins, it's probably under Florida wins. It's

00:51:31probably over. I think it's staying under regardless of who

00:51:34wins this basketball game and it will get tense, close, and

00:51:37tight because why we don't have that. Oh my goodness. Yes, we

00:51:40know both of the offenses are very good but the defenses are

00:51:42good. The defenses do some things that are gonna

00:51:44frustrate other teams. So, for my money tonight, I don't look

00:51:47at and say like, well, Florida's gonna win. That means

00:51:49they got seventy-four points. They're gonna hit their team

00:51:51total to the over and away they go with the over for the game.

00:51:53So, for me, no correlation point. I think the game stays

00:51:56under regardless of who wins it here. So, I don't have it.

00:51:58Use it because honestly, you would say Houston wants this

00:52:01game to be slower. Technically, yes but they have the ability

00:52:04to score seventy-five points in this game like that's not

00:52:06holding them back even though Florida's a very good defensive

00:52:09team. Donnie, we've talked about this Houston team for a

00:52:12long time. Calvin Sampson has led the Cougs in his eleven

00:52:15years to seven consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. They

00:52:19have reached the sweet sixteen each of the last six years. So,

00:52:22let's look at that long as active sweet sixteen streak

00:52:25now and in this six-year window. Every year, Houston has

00:52:29been a top five defense. No surprise. They're the most

00:52:32efficient defense this year nationally in college hoops but

00:52:35in all of the six years that we have seen, Houston has been a

00:52:38top fifteen efficient offense. Now, that might cause some

00:52:41people a little bit of surprise. Efficiency on the

00:52:44offensive end, even if you are playing slow, just means

00:52:47getting quality looks, having good possessions, and of

00:52:50course, scoring the basketball. So, what is the one big

00:52:53difference from this year's Cougs team to the previous five

00:52:57seasons? The three ball. Houston never ranked inside the

00:53:00top 100 in the country in terms of three-point percentage as a

00:53:04team. This year and entering tonight, they are the best.

00:53:08Nearly 40% from three shot better than 45% from three in

00:53:12the Saturday night win in the final four against Duke. That

00:53:15is the main distinction. From this year's Houston team to the

00:53:19previous teams that have looked a lot like this Cougars team in

00:53:22construction to what we will see on display on a Monday night

00:53:26in the national championship. How about to Florida on the

00:53:30other end? What Todd Golden has done in his three years in

00:53:33Gainesville is build a team that in the backcourt, you have

00:53:36some of the best guards that you could hope for. The

00:53:38athleticism of Elijah Martin. Will Richard, the consistency

00:53:41and of course, probably no more prolific score right now

00:53:44in college hoops than that of Walter Clayton Junior. But you

00:53:47also have the physicality up front for Alex Condon, Ruben

00:53:51Chinyaloo. You've got Thomas Hauk off the bench, Denzel

00:53:54Aberdeen, Micah Handlocked and you've got so much depth for

00:53:58this Gators side as well. These two teams match up so well. I'm

00:54:02not sure, Donnie. You could look one through five in the

00:54:05starting lineup. You could look even with the bench and the

00:54:07reserves in play and say, ooh, there it is. Red flag, red

00:54:12flag. That's why insert X team has a monumental edge and is

00:54:16going to win this national championship game tonight. I

00:54:19just do not believe that advantage exists between these

00:54:22two teams. No, it doesn't. There are some incremental

00:54:25advantages. I think both of these teams want to take

00:54:27advantage of like if you look at Houston's offense again,

00:54:30the calling card has always been for the Cougars are going

00:54:32to be real scrappy. They're going to play unbelievable

00:54:34defense. They'll get their points where they can. Top nine

00:54:36in the country in efficiency. That is tremendous. Now,

00:54:39granted, they don't turn the basketball over the rebound

00:54:40extremely well on offense. And as you said, the best three

00:54:43point shooting team in the entire country. They don't

00:54:45shoot the three point shot with a ton of volume, but that's

00:54:47okay. Knock down the open three point shot makes their offense

00:54:50go. Here's some of the issues that you might run into tonight

00:54:52if you're looking at Houston's offense because as we said,

00:54:55Florida's defense, top ten in the country in efficiency. It's

00:54:58really good. If the three ball isn't going down, you look for

00:55:01other ways to score a ban, which means stealing points at the

00:55:04free throw line. They don't do that 327th in the country at

00:55:08getting to the free throw line. If you look at their point

00:55:10distribution, Ben 312th in the country at scoring from the

00:55:13free throw line. So if you're in a game that's going to be

00:55:15close, you want to be able to steal those points specifically

00:55:17against another good defensive team on the flip side. You take

00:55:20a look at the Florida Gators and I'm not saying they get to

00:55:22the line in elite level, but they get there more than the

00:55:24Houston Cougars and also Houston does have a tendency to

00:55:27foul a little bit. So if your offense is a little bit out of

00:55:30whack, you like those easy scoring opportunities. Take it

00:55:33to the rim, get fouled, make two free throw shots because

00:55:35Houston will foul and they'll see on the other side. If

00:55:37Houston isn't making the three point shots at an elite level

00:55:40and again, Florida's defense, top six in the country at

00:55:43defending the three point line. Some of those easier buckets

00:55:46might come Florida's way here. And Donnie, it's a really good

00:55:49point as well with the physicality we expect because

00:55:52both teams have that physical presence on either side.

00:55:55There's nobody that will be scared of that moment tonight.

00:55:58How tight is the whistle from the officiating crew? Could we

00:56:01see these teams get into the bonus, into the penalty early

00:56:04and a half, which will add up with some points and of course

00:56:08look to that total 140 and a hook. I have bet the over at

00:56:12137 and a half with a 30% profit boost on our lovely

00:56:15FanDuel Sportsbook taking it down ever so slightly. Why did

00:56:19I bet the over? Well, one, I have Florida winning a national

00:56:22championship and I do believe that favors the Gators, but

00:56:25number two, Donnie and I favor the public poll. When the least

00:56:28selected option for a national championship game from the

00:56:31betting public was the over, that gives me a little bit of

00:56:35something that maybe I am in trying to fade. It will also be

00:56:39interesting looking at these two teams. Florida had gone over

00:56:43in its first four games of the big dance, the only under

00:56:45against Auburn on Saturday, but that game still got north of

00:56:49150. Since the beginning of February, Florida has only

00:56:53played in one game that has seen fewer than 140 points,

00:56:58which is basically our total tonight. That was its first

00:57:01game in February against Tennessee, a Vols team that

00:57:04lost to Houston in the Midwest Regional Final in the Elite

00:57:07Eight. It looks a lot like how Houston wants to play

00:57:11basketball. The Cougs, as we saw Florida's team total of 70

00:57:15and a half, has only allowed two opponents in its 19 games

00:57:18since the start of February to score more than 70 points in

00:57:23regulation. Gonzaga in the round of 32, the Zags totaled 76,

00:57:28and Texas Tech in its first game of February had 72 in

00:57:32regulation. Won that game in OT in H-Town, 82-81. That was

00:57:37Houston's last loss. They have won 18 straight, entering

00:57:40tonight's national championship game. Again, I do believe it is

00:57:44correlated. I hear your point. I don't know if it's necessarily

00:57:48correlated as it must go over for Florida to win. I do think

00:57:52if the Gators do end up cutting down the nets, it is more

00:57:55likely to trend to the over than if Houston is our national

00:57:58champion at night end. And by the way, we talked so much

00:58:01about the three-point shooting of both of these teams, and

00:58:03again, elite defenders of the three-point line. The

00:58:05difference also, the Florida Gators will chase you off a

00:58:07little bit more of that three-point line than the

00:58:09Houston Cougars. So if you're just looking again for

00:58:11correlated numbers, if I say to myself, if Florida has a good

00:58:14night tonight, and a good night, I mean hitting their team

00:58:16total, right? Overexpectations, 72 points. A lot of those points

00:58:20are going to come from three-point range, which means

00:58:22they're not getting a three-point shot down, and also

00:58:25bet accordingly to that. Walter Clayton tonight, hey, scored

00:58:2828 points. You know damn well, Ben, that's at least five

00:58:31triples from Walter Clayton tonight going up against

00:58:32Houston. So I do think the three-point line for Florida is

00:58:35going to be paramount. I'm not expecting a high number because

00:58:38why? Yes, they let you score, but they're elite defenders at

00:58:41the three-point line, which means hand in your face

00:58:43entirely. But if I'm looking at points props here, I'm actually

00:58:46looking more at the three-point props than the points. Same

00:58:48thing with that guy, Thomas Houck. Hey, he scored 13 points

00:58:51or 11 points. You know that means at least, at least, Ben,

00:58:54he made one three-point shot. So the three-point correlation

00:58:56tonight with Florida, knocking their shots down when they're

00:58:59available because you will be allowed to shoot the three-point

00:59:02shot against Houston. But again, the question is going to

00:59:04be how many of those three-point shots are actually

00:59:06going down tonight. And how many are actually good looks?

00:59:09Houston being the most efficient defense in the country, DRS,

00:59:12they make it so difficult to find a quality shot. It's why

00:59:16when you look at the metrics, they'll allow their opponents

00:59:18to shoot more than 43% of the overall field goals from beyond

00:59:22the arc. But part of that is because it is so difficult to

00:59:25get a good look inside the arc or down low against the Cougs,

00:59:29you end up having to settle for a contested three. If Florida

00:59:33can get some good opportunities, that could be all

00:59:36the difference. We'll talk about those player props, what

00:59:40they need to do from three, how many points they need to

00:59:42score, how many rebounds they need to get. Next, it is time

00:59:46for Prop Rots now for our national championship game.

00:59:50We've explored every angle, side, matchup advantages, what

00:59:53it means for how many points we see tonight, which of course

00:59:56is our over-under total. DRS, let's look at the points props

01:00:00for the best players on the biggest stage of a college

01:00:03basketball season. We start on Florida's side, and when you

01:00:06start with the Gators, you start with Walter Clayton Jr.

01:00:10Nineteen and a half, his points prop. It is the highest number

01:00:14for tonight's national championship game, but the

01:00:16previous two for Clayton Jr. and UF, his number was north of

01:00:2120. Against Texas Tech, he had 30. In the final four against

01:00:25Auburn, sailed through his pregame points prop of 21 and a

01:00:28half, finishing with 34. I think one of the reasons DRS, it's

01:00:32not on the rise, is because he is playing the nation's most

01:00:36efficient defense tonight. What do you make of that 19 and a

01:00:40half points prop for Walter Clayton Jr. against the Cougs

01:00:43this evening? Just by volume, he probably should get that.

01:00:46Now, am I immediately betting and running to the window to

01:00:48take Walter Clayton Jr.? Not necessarily. I told you, I'm

01:00:50more interested in three-point prop bets because if he does

01:00:53have 20-plus points, you know, probably at least four of those

01:00:56are coming from three-point range, and if he has a 30-point

01:00:59night, you know he's probably going ballistic from all over

01:01:01the court at that point here, but there is a correlation. I

01:01:04mean, honestly, look at this ball game tonight, and you tell

01:01:07me the Florida Gators win this game without Walter Clayton

01:01:09Jr. getting 19 and a half points. I don't think it's

01:01:12happening, so I would be confident to say that I'd

01:01:14rather take Walter Clayton at 19 and a half points to the over

01:01:17than just taking the Florida Gators at the minus one and a

01:01:20half because there's a chance Walter Clayton Jr. scores 24

01:01:22points, and they don't win this ball game tonight against the

01:01:25Houston Cougars, so I think there's a correlation on how

01:01:27well he plays. I just don't see any way possible, looking at

01:01:30that prop watch board right there, that Clayton doesn't get

01:01:33the 20 points and the fact that the Florida Gators, that's

01:01:35going to be a correlation of how they play, but you look at

01:01:37Condon. We just had Tom Vecchio on the show under eight and a

01:01:40half points makes sense. He hasn't gone anywhere near that

01:01:42in the last four games playing against elite competition, and

01:01:44it's not as if we're playing like Duke tonight where that

01:01:46total might have been in the minus, you know, 150 and a half

01:01:49range. Let's just say, but I do still find how good ten and a

01:01:53half points. I think two three point shots is legitimate for

01:01:55him tonight because that's going to be open and also

01:01:57understand this. He does have a tendency to get to the free

01:02:00throw late. I don't know what he was doing at the free throw

01:02:02line, but he was shooting free throws, which we told you that

01:02:05the Houston Cougars will fail you here. So Martin Richard and

01:02:09Hawk probably more likely to be on my board from a prop

01:02:12perspective than Walter Clayton, who I would you strictly go

01:02:14with three-point props DRS. One of the reasons that Thomas

01:02:18Houck will be there to get to the charity stripe for Todd

01:02:20Golden's Gators. He trusts help to be out there in those foul

01:02:23scenarios late. He is better than an 80% free throw shooter

01:02:27this season. I believe ended three of seven from the stripe

01:02:31on Saturday against the Tigers, but still found his way over

01:02:3412 points for Thomas Houck to make one three tonight. It's

01:02:37minus 178 and that's the way the oddsmakers on FanDuel have

01:02:42you bet the three-point props two plus three plus four plus

01:02:47four plus excuse me. Not exactly an over under which

01:02:50means that three plus made threes is where you find Walter

01:02:53Clayton Junior for the first time at minus 250 LJ Cryer

01:02:59minus 152. That's second strongest price quick question

01:03:03here DRS on Walter Clayton Junior. If he stays under his

01:03:06points prop tonight can Florida still win a national

01:03:09championship? They can but boy you want to talk about a

01:03:12decreased number in that so I would say they can but I'm not

01:03:15confident as I said if Walter Clayton Junior scores 14 points

01:03:18at they're not winning this basketball game like when we're

01:03:20talking about getting he has to have at least like 19 points as

01:03:23crazy as that sounds because his number is 19 and a half like

01:03:25he literally has to get to that number. Maybe finish a point

01:03:28lower and somebody's going to have to go off against one of

01:03:29the nation's best defense, but constructive criticism today.

01:03:32Ben here FanDuel Sportsbook love it easy to use best website

01:03:36out there. Why don't we have the points just listed in order

01:03:39like why do I have to click on the player to get his total

01:03:42points like I always know college basketball. It's a

01:03:44little bit different. I guess the way they structure it. I

01:03:46never thought that made sense that it's so much easier to see

01:03:48it lined all the way down as opposed to clicking on each one

01:03:51like well, we give you the 1015 2025. No just let me see them

01:03:55side by side at this point like we put up on the graphic.

01:03:58Yeah, I hear you. I'm just happy right now. There is still

01:04:01props out for college sports at this moment as we heard from

01:04:05JY DRS. He expects Kelvin Sampson as you might anticipate

01:04:10as well to try to take away Walter Clayton jr. As much as

01:04:13possible, which means looking at those second options Thomas

01:04:16Houk scoring in double figures again, Elijah Martin who had

01:04:2017 is for the second leading score on Saturday and who has

01:04:23gone over 12 and a half points in four of the five wins for the

01:04:27Gators in the big dance would make a lot of sense. Let's go

01:04:32to Houston side of things. They're leading score both on

01:04:35Saturday and the entirety of this season. That was LJ Cryer

01:04:39six of nine from 326 points to lead Houston to the victory

01:04:44over Duke. When you try to find your best bet from Houston

01:04:48scoring output DRS, which Cougar you targeting? It's really

01:04:53hard because again, we still sit because there's there's clear

01:04:56like, you know, demarcations where you take a look at

01:04:58Florida side, right? It's Walter Clayton jr. As far as they go.

01:05:00He's going to take him a boy. He's taken him far in every

01:05:02single game when you need him to step up at the end of the

01:05:05game. He has the bike in his face like boy. How did you pull

01:05:08this one out over the final six minutes? There's so many

01:05:10different waves that you can hit from Houston that sometimes

01:05:13you don't want to outsmart yourself, right? Because you

01:05:15see Juwan Roberts 10 and a half points use on 11 and a half,

01:05:18you know, sharp 14 and a half Cryer 16 and a half. If I had

01:05:21to pick one of those players to say, I need to be game. I'm

01:05:24sorry. I got to go back to Cryer. Like instead of just

01:05:26saying like it has to go for sure was Clayton. Now, if we're

01:05:28looking at Cryer finishes with 12 points, I don't have that

01:05:31same urgent. Well, he didn't hit his number. You see Walter

01:05:33Clayton. It's different for me more outlets, more different

01:05:35ways to score, but also from a guy that's already played in a

01:05:39final four game, been in that building and shot the lights

01:05:42out. I always stick with this premise. There's no way

01:05:44Crier's coming into this night. So, you know what? It's

01:05:47everybody else's night tonight from the three-point line. He

01:05:49is going to launch tonight and that's the guy you should be

01:05:52focused on. So, Walter Clayton jr. Should get there. I expect

01:05:55Cryer to have a game that's close to 20 points in this

01:05:58game because he already had that fire performance from

01:06:00three-point land. He's going to shoot prop weapon, eight,

01:06:03nine triples tonight. I trust him. Yeah, no doubt about it.

01:06:06The RS, which is what he has done throughout the NCAA

01:06:09tournament. He had one really bad game that was against

01:06:12Purdue and the sweet 16 has had at least 15 in every other

01:06:16including a 30-point performance against Gonzaga and

01:06:19a 26-point performance against the Blue Devils. The RS, I

01:06:22tried to get a little too cute on Saturday. LJ Cryer was minus

01:06:26136 to hit three threes and I knew Houston would have to be

01:06:29great from deep to beat Duke. They were. I went to Milo's

01:06:32Usain to have two plus at a minus 140 number. He stunk one

01:06:37of four. Where do I go back tonight? Milo's Usain comes

01:06:41through over 11 and a half points. I think that will be my

01:06:44favorite prop tonight. Juwan Roberts, look at the rebounding

01:06:47number six and a half. He is going to have to be great

01:06:50against a Florida team that is top five and crashing the

01:06:53offensive boards this year in college basketball. The RS, we

01:06:57send you off now to the money line, my friend. I'll see you

01:07:00tomorrow. Bright and early. In studio. We're on the early line

01:07:06now. A couple more minutes here on National Championship

01:07:09Monday on the early line on Sports Grid. I'll talk about

01:07:13the plan, the schedule, what you can expect on the Spiz Grizz

01:07:17Network for your National Championship coverage the

01:07:19remainder of this day in just a matter of moments. Some people

01:07:24have told me this is brown. I believe it's a dark olive green.

01:07:28It is my most green suit, if you will. I am wearing green

01:07:31today. I will be wearing green tonight on Sports Grid's

01:07:35Bracket Central National Championship special alongside

01:07:38OK Dub's Kevin Walsh and our coach, J.Y. James Young, because

01:07:42I never thought I would do the Gator Chomp live on national

01:07:46television, but here I am. I need Florida big. First, for

01:07:50bragging rights in the Sports Grid Bracket Pool. Second, for

01:07:55some big money in my college buddy's pool with more than 50

01:07:58competitors trying to win more than $800 tonight and cash a

01:08:04Florida National Championship ticket that I got at 11-1 back

01:08:08in early February based on the Ken Palm numbers, the metrics

01:08:12and the trends that we had seen that could signify what it

01:08:15takes to win a national championship. Of course,

01:08:18Florida started this year at a 60-1 price to win a national

01:08:22crown, that number 11-1 back in early February, plus 360 before

01:08:27the tournament started after the field was unveiled. And as

01:08:31of this moment, the Gator is an ever so slight favorite to cut

01:08:34down the nets as a national champion tonight in San

01:08:38Antonio. I'm trying not to root for Florida. Obviously, I gotta

01:08:42be a little bit objective and just try to detail a great

01:08:45national championship game that I hope for tonight. But if

01:08:49Florida wins, oh boy, my heart is going to be singing. A

01:08:53couple of other looks for you. If you trust and fit in the

01:08:56public, and the public loves overs, and so when the public

01:08:59doesn't want to bet an over based on Houston playing at a

01:09:02basketball game tonight, I kind of lean the over 140-1.5 outside

01:09:08of really cheering home Florida to win this national

01:09:10championship because of the revenue payout it will mean for

01:09:14me. I also did grab Houston as a plus 450 number to win the

01:09:19national championship because I needed the Cougs to be in the

01:09:21title game, to beat Duke, to win all of these bracket pools I am

01:09:25laying out. I did bet Houston a plus 450 before their game

01:09:29against the Blue Devils on Final Four Saturday. I will also

01:09:33be looking at the over, as I said, with a fade to public

01:09:36sentiment, although no strong conviction there. And I'm going

01:09:39to go back to the drawing board. I think often when you

01:09:41get spurned by a player in the prop category, you say that

01:09:44player is dead to me. I'm never betting their number again. I'll

01:09:48go back to Milos Yuzan tonight for Houston, expecting him to be

01:09:52a lot better from three. Only one made triple on Saturday

01:09:55against the Blue Devils because Kelvin Samson trusts in his

01:09:59point guard, who was in a bunch of early foul trouble in the

01:10:02opening half and a bunch of foul trouble for the majority of

01:10:05the game. Milos Yuzan over 11.5 points is a way I will look to

01:10:10approach this national championship game as well. Keep

01:10:13an eye on Juwan Roberts in his rebounding prop. Six and a half

01:10:16has to be key tonight against those big bodies down low. Alex

01:10:20Condon, Ruben Chinulu, Thomas Houck, Micah Hand logged in,

01:10:23just to name a few, for the Florida Gators. Ultimately, I

01:10:28picked Florida to win a national championship before the big

01:10:30dance started. I stick with that conviction in the Gators,

01:10:34and as we shared with many a pick six, either before the NCAA

01:10:38tournament began or the final four started this weekend, I had

01:10:42Walter Clayton Jr., Florida's best player, winning most

01:10:45outstanding player, and after a 34-point performance in the

01:10:48final four, even if he is a little bit lackluster tonight, I

01:10:52still would expect from a narrative perspective, he wins

01:10:54MOP. He is now a minus 110 favorite on the FanDuel

01:10:59Sportsbook. Tonight is the final college basketball game of this

01:11:03season. Of course, yesterday we saw UConn win national

01:11:06championship number 12 in women's college basketball, and

01:11:10there are many different varieties of a postseason

01:11:13tournament now in college hoops, the NIT, the CBI, and for the

01:11:18first ever year, the college basketball crown. I think you

01:11:22can poke fun at a lot of these tournaments. What's the

01:11:25significance? What meaning do they hold in this sport,

01:11:29especially in comparison to the big dance? I think that was what

01:11:32a lot of people were saying about the crown because it

01:11:35featured a lot of high major programs that have really

01:11:38struggled this year, but I think you saw on display

01:11:41yesterday in Las Vegas what it can mean. Nebraska with a huge

01:11:45second half rally down by 14 points against UCF, coming all

01:11:49the way back to win the inaugural college basketball

01:11:52crown, and the Huskers were celebrating as though it had

01:11:56significance for their program, and I believe that it did. A

01:12:00Nebraska team that has yet to win an NCAA tournament game,

01:12:04but has now won an NIT and a college basketball crown. I

01:12:08think it will mean a lot, and I think you saw the reaction of

01:12:11Fred Hoiberg, Bryce Williams, Juwan Gary in their final

01:12:15collegiate game that ending a season in the win column will

01:12:20always have some serious significance. We'll see you

01:12:23tomorrow on the early line at 8 AM Eastern on Sports

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