The men’s college basketball Final Four was set yesterday, with all four top seeds—Auburn, Duke, Houston, and Florida—advancing to the tournament semifinals. It marks the first time since 2008 that all four No. 1 seeds have advanced.
Top storylines for next weekend include whether Duke’s Cooper Flagg, the consensus top draft pick this year, can continue his dominant performance. Separately, both Auburn’s Bruce Pearl and Houston’s Kelvin Sampson are looking for redemption years after being bounced from head coaching gigs for recruiting violations. The semifinals are slated for this Saturday, with conference foes Auburn and Florida facing off, followed by Duke taking on Houston.
The Final Four standing on the women’s side will be determined tonight, with No. 1 Texas facing No. 2 TCU (7 pm ET, ESPN), followed by No. 1 USC (minus star JuJu Watkins) taking on No. 2 Connecticut (9 pm ET, ESPN). Yesterday, top-seeded UCLA punched its first Final Four ticket in program history, beating No. 3 LSU 72-65, while defending champion No. 1 South Carolina outlasted No. 2 Duke 54-50. See a full bracket here.