The last two teams standing in the 2025 NCAA Tournament are the Florida Gators and Duke Blue Devils. They will play on Monday, April 7, 2025 in this year’s national championship game, with the winner set to etch their name in the college basketball history books. With both teams in this Florida vs Duke matchup possessing a ton of depth, this game from the Alamodome in San Antonio could go in either direction.
At DraftKings Sportsbook, Duke is a 4.5-point favorite heading into the national title game. Florida will enter as an underdog for the first time in this tournament and will look to overcome the odds in this matchup between the SEC and ACC champions. Here, we break down this matchup between the Gators and Blue Devils as both teams look to create their One Shining Moment in Texas.
Can Florida Slow Down Duke Juggernaut?
The Florida Gators trailed the Auburn Tigers by eight points at halftime of their Final Four matchup on Saturday night. But the Gators stormed back in the second half, wearing down the Tigers with their depth to grab a six-point win to advance to the national title game. Now the Gators are one win away from following up their SEC championship in March with a national championship in April.
To win the national championship game, Florida is going to need another huge game from Walter Clayton Jr. Clayton has scored 30 or more points in back-to-back games for the Gators, helping them to claw their way back from deficits in each of those contests. Here, Clayton will have to find a way to score against another elite defense, but that is nothing new to him based on what we’ve seen from him all season long.
Protecting the paint will be of vital importance to Florida as well. They have a ton of depth in their frontcourt, but we saw them get into foul trouble on the interior against Maryland earlier in this tournament. With Duke being so willing to lob the ball into Khaman Maluach, Florida has to defend the rim without fouling to give themselves a chance to win this contest.
Duke Looks to Plant Flagg Atop College Hoops Mountain
Duke has looked like the best team in this tournament from the first round through the Final Four. They defeated the Houston Cougars in the national semifinals to get to this national title tilt against Florida. Duke was very effective in the paint against the Cougars, something that very few teams have done against Houston this year. They will look to pound the paint against Florida here as well to get their sixth championship in program history and their first title since 2015.
Cooper Flagg is the unquestioned star for this Duke team and he will look to claim a national title in what is presumably his only season as a college athlete. But freshman Kon Knueppel has stolen the show at times for the Blue Devils during their run to the title game. Knueppel is a solid outside shooter and crafty at scoring around the rim, all of which will be important as Duke looks to keep the Florida defense honest and prevent them from committing too much attention to Flagg.
It will be interesting to see how the young core of Duke is able to handle the pressure of playing in the national championship game. So far, Duke has looked up to every challenge they have faced. But they also haven’t played many close games this season and they could be in danger of faltering late if they end up in a closer contest than they are accustomed to.
Florida vs Duke Prediction
Duke -4.5 (-110) over Florida
220K Gold Coins & 10 FREE Sweeps Coins
- Duke has enough depth to match that of Florida, which is what typically gives Florida the upper hand.
- Duke has looked much more convincing throughout this tournament and we will take them to finish the job in the title game.
