San Antonio hosted the Final Four of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) March Madness, a sporting event which is one of the most famous in America, and is well known all over the world.
The brackets, big upsets, future NBA players and relatively unknown players on underdog teams outplaying said future NBA players. The randomness and surprises are a big part of what makes March Madness such a huge tournament.
March Madness is a huge event which is still growing as ratings are reaching new heights. According to Front Office Sports, “Through the first two rounds, the NCAA tournament is averaging 9.4 million viewers per game across CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV, marking the highest average audience through the round of 32 since 1993.”
For the first time since 2018 and the fifth time ever, March Madness came to San Antonio. The Final Four was played on April 5 and the national championship was played on April 7 in the Alamodome in downtown San Antonio.
It is such a rare event for any part of the tournament to be held in San Antonio, particularly the national championship. The reason for this is the process for selecting the locations of the tournament.
According to Realtor “Cities bid for a chance to be a host city years in advance.” The NCAA has different conditions for a host city such as arena seating, hotel availability, and geographic distribution.
“For the Final Four, the NCAA usually opts for stadiums or domes with at least 60,000 seats. These facilities must have the modern amenities and infrastructure capable of accommodating the massive influx of viewers safely and efficiently.” according to an article by Sports Illustrated. The first two rounds require at least 10,000 seats and the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight both need venues with at least 15,000 seats.
Host cities need to have a necessary number of hotels near the arena whilst also having food and entertainment nearby. The NCAA also likes to scatter the cities around the U.S to showcase the sporting event to as many people as possible.
Team Selection Process
The NCAA picks the teams to play in the tournament through a process which is all culminated on Selection Sunday.
First, the 37 highest ranked teams are automatically in the tournament. Then they seed or rank the remaining 31 teams and place those teams into the bracket.
The 37 highest ranked teams get in, but the 31 other teams selected for the tournament are selected through a process called “Selecting at Large”. They select at-large (AL) based on their play, then form a board of “under consideration” teams. Of those under consideration teams, eight are chosen.
Those eight teams are ranked and the top 4 teams get their spot in the tournament, but the bottom 4 teams go back into the “under consideration” board and the cycle repeats until there are 68 total teams. “If voting results are still tied, the Chair shall break the tie” per NCAA.
That’s how the teams are chosen, however there is an even longer process to pick out the bracket and seeding. There are certain rules the NCAA puts in place to ensure the matchups are as fair and as new as possible.
There are four regions divided into quadrants including seeds (1, 8, 9, 16), (4, 5, 12, 13), (2, 7, 10, 15), (3 ,6 ,11 ,14). Each quadrant has their own first and second round site.
Teams from the same conference can’t play each other until the Elite Eight if they played each other 3 or more times before the tournament. They can’t play each other until the Sweet Sixteen if they played each other twice before the tournament. They can’t play against each other until the round of 32 if they played each other once before the tournament.
“To recognize the demonstrated quality of such teams, the committee shall not place teams seeded on the first four lines at a potential ‘home-crowd disadvantage’ in the first round.” according to the NCAA. These teams get to play as close to their campus as possible, and the first overall seed gets to pick where they play their first two rounds. However, teams can’t play in an arena that they’ve already played in four or more times.
The eight lowest ranked teams of the 68 selected compete in the First Four in Dayton. Dayton is the annual spot for the First Four and it has been a college tradition since 2011.
The whole selection process leads to Selection Sunday where the brackets and seeding are announced. According to NCAA.com, “In men’s basketball, because there are five conference championship games played on Selection Sunday, there are contingent seed lists based on those outcomes.” To combat this the committee creates alternate brackets for every possible situation.
The higher seeds are generally the best teams in the tournament and usually win. As per NBC “Since 1985, when the bracket expanded to 64 teams, 34 of the past 39 men’s champions have been seeded first, second, or third, with 25 champions coming from No. 1 seeds.”
Despite this, upsets still happen nearly every year. According to USA Today “Since 2011, at least one No. 7 seed or lower has made it in the Final Four – except for 2019.”
The yearly Cinderella story is one of the things that make March Madness so special. However, this year was different, there was no Cinderella story.
2025 Men’s NCAA Final Four
The Final Four consisted of all number 1 seeds: Duke, Houston, Auburn and Florida. The four highest ranked teams the whole season according to the Ap Week 19 poll
Duke University was the number one overall seed with a 28-3 record in the regular season led by third year coach Jon Scheyer, with Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year, ACC Player of the Year, and projected number one overall pick freshman forward Cooper Flagg, who averaged 19 points, nearly 8 rebounds and 4 assists. The Blue Devils were also led by junior guard Tyrese Proctor, and projected lottery picks freshmen Khaman Maluach and Kon Knueppel.
The University of Houston was the overall two seed with a 27-4 in the regular season, led by veteran coach Kelvin Sampson, a balanced team with senior guard L.J. Cryer, who averaged nearly 16 points per game. The Cougars were also led by three other double digit scorers to include junior guards Milos Uzan and Emanuel Sharp and senior forward J’Wan Roberts.
Auburn University, with a regular season record of 27-4, were the overall three seed, coached by Bruce Pearl. The Tigers were led by Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year finalist and SEC Player of the Year senior forward Johni Broome, who averaged nearly 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 assists. The Tigers were also led by senior guards Denver Jones and Chad Baker Mazara and freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford.
The University of Florida finished with a regular season record of 27-4 and were the fourth overall seed coached by Todd Golden who is in his third year as their coach. The Gators were led by Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year finalist senior Walter Clayton Jr., who averaged 18 points, nearly 4 rebounds and 4 assists. The Gators were also led by sophomore Alex Condon and senior guards Will Richard and Alijah Martin.
The Final four tipped off with the matchup between Florida and Auburn. The game took place on Saturday, April 5 at the Alamodome with a crowd of 68,252 fans per ESPN.
The Florida Gators won 79-73 led by an incredible game from Walter Clayton Jr. as he scored 34 points on 11-18 from the field and five three pointers. Senior guard Alijah Martin also chipped in with 17 points. With this win, Florida secured their spot in the National Championship game, and would now wait to see if they were facing Houston or Duke.
The second Final Four game between Duke and Houston tipped off on the same day at 7:49 p.m.
In a game where Houston was the slight underdog, the Cougars pulled off a late fourth quarter comeback and won 70-67. Led by seniors L.J. Cryer’s 26 points, J’Wan Roberts’ 11 points and 12 rebounds, and junior Emanuel Sharp’s 16 points, Houston punched their ticket into the national championship game.
At 7:50 p.m. on Monday, April 7, in front of over 66,000 fans in the Alamodome, it was Florida versus Houston for the national title.
This championship game was tied 11 times, but only had three lead changes as Houston was leading for most of the game and led by as many as 12 points.
However, turnovers late in the game from Houston and Florida knocking down their free throws proved to be decisive in the result of the game. Houston was led by L.J. Cryer’s 19 points. Despite the performance, Florida had just a bit more as their balanced scoring attack led by Will Richard’s 18 points, Alex Condon’s 12 points and Walter Clayton Jr. ‘s 11 points were enough for Florida to secure the win 65-63.
Florida making late in the game free throws and Houston’s turnovers proved to be the deciding factors as the final buzzer sounded and Florida won the national championship.
The University of Florida Gators will be looking to defend their national title in next year’s Final Four that will take place in Indianapolis at the Lucas Oil Stadium.