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The first game of a historic Final Four begins Saturday in San Antonio when No. 1 overall seed Auburn plays No. 1 seed Florida in a battle of SEC foes. The winner will face No. 1 seed Duke or No. 1 seed Houston in Monday’s NCAA Tournament title game.
For the first time since 2008, all four No. 1 seeds reached the final weekend of the college basketball season. Florida pulled off a dramatic comeback win over Texas Tech to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2014, while Auburn punched its ticket with a win over Michigan State.
Earlier this season, Florida upset Auburn on the road with a 90-81 win behind 19 points from All-American guard Walter Clayton Jr. Florida star guard Alijah Martin didn’t play in the first matchup but will be in the starting lineup in the first national semifinal of the day.
March Madness 2025 picks: Expert predictions for NCAA Tournament Final Four, national champion
Martin will become the first player in college basketball history to start in the Final Four with two different programs. Martin, a former star at FAU under former coach Dusty May, recently became the first player in college basketball history to start an Elite Eight game with two different teams.
Where to watch Auburn vs. Florida live
Date: Saturday, April 5 | Time: 6:09 p.m. ET
Location: Alamodome — San Antonio
TV: CBS | Streaming: March Madness Live
Auburn vs. Florida prediction, picks
All odds via SportsLine consensus.
Auburn has had a run of slow starts recently, except when they faced another slow-starting team in Michigan State. The Tigers are 1-7 against the first half spread in the last eight games and 4-11 in their last 15, a span that stretches back to the loss to Florida on Feb. 8. The Gators, meanwhile, have tied or led at halftime in each of their last 10 games and can get their bench involved early to test Auburn’s depth.
The Bruce Pearl-Todd Golden familiarity could produce a bit of a stalemate first half — the First Half Under 76.5 is also worth a look — but I’m counting on Auburn to pivot to its best play and counter-punches after halftime. Florida has closed well at the end of the first half a few times in this postseason run, “winning” the final 10 minutes of the second half in five out of seven games between the SEC and NCAA Tournament, and those habits should power a halftime lead for the Gators. Pick: Florida 1H -1.5 — Chip Patterson
Who will win and cover in every college basketball game? Visit SportsLine to get picks from the model that simulates each game 10,000 times and is up more than $1,200 for $100 players on its top-rated spread picks the past six years.
