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.
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.
This news was originally published on this post .
About the author
Astros to promote top pitching prospect AJ Blubaugh
HOUSTON — The Houston Astros will promote pitching prospect AJ Blubaugh to make his major-league debut on Wednesday afternoon in a spot start against the Detroit Tigers.Blubaugh boasts a 4.29 ERA across his first 21 Triple-A innings. He represented the Astros in the Futures Game last season. The 24-year-old right-hander finished with a 4.19 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.AdvertisementThe Athletic’s Keith Law slotted Blubaugh sixth in his preseason ranking of Houston’s prospects, higher than any pitcher in the Astros’ system. Blubaugh participated in major-league spring training, but is not on the team’s 40-man roster, so Houston will have to create a spot prior to Wednesday’s game.The Astros selected Blubaugh in the seventh round of the 2022 Draft from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. When Blubaugh throws his first pitch on Wednesday, he will become the school’s first pitcher to […]
Rafael Devers, Jarren Duran heating up as five-homer barrage jumpstarts Red Sox
TORONTO — Jarren Duran didn’t waste any time setting the tone on Tuesday night.Coming off a series in Cleveland in which he went 7-for-11 over the final two games, Duran smoked the third pitch of the game from Toronto starter Bowden Francis 378 feet to right-center field to set off a home run barrage for the Boston Red Sox in a 10-2 pummeling of the Blue Jays.AdvertisementAlex Bregman soon followed Duran’s leadoff homer with a solo shot of his own. Kristian Campbell clubbed a solo homer to open the second and in the third Devers opened the frame with another home run. After Bregman and Trevor Story singled in the third, Wilyer Abreu broke the solo homer streak with a three-run shot, giving the Red Sox to a 7-0 lead with their ace Garrett Crochet on the mound.Per Elias, the […]
5 NFL teams with big questions coming out of the draft
(This article was written with the assistance of Castmagic, an AI tool, and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Please reach out to us if you notice any mistakes.)In this episode of the "Inside Coverage" podcast, Yahoo Sports' Frank Schwab, Jori Epstein and Charles Robinson spent a significant amount of time discussing teams with the biggest question marks after the NFL Draft. Here are some of the teams they flagged as having the most uncertainty heading into the offseason:San Francisco 49ersSchwab ranked San Francisco's offseason 32nd — last in the NFL — due to major talent losses, questions about the aging core (like George Kittle, Trent Williams and Christian McCaffrey) and uncertainty around Brandon Aiyuk.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRobinson emphasized that the team lost a lot of core talent, and its defensively heavy draft needs to hit perfectly for San Francisco to […]
Jalen Brunson took off the hero’s cape, and the Knicks remain winless in a playoff series at MSG for 26 years
The New York Knicks' agonizing wait for a home playoff series win, now stretching 9,454 days, grew heavier after a 106-103 loss to the Detroit Pistons in Game 5 on April 29, 2025, at Madison Square Garden. Star guard Jalen Brunson struggled, scoring 16 points on 4-for-16 shooting, including 1-for-4 from three and 7-for-10 from the free-throw line, with seven assists, four turnovers, and four fouls in 36 minutes. The Pistons, who've dominated the Knicks at MSG this season with four wins in five games, extended New York's 26-year close-out game drought. Since their last home series-clinching victory on June 11, 1999, against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals (90-82), the Knicks have gone 0-7 in close-out games at MSG, per Basketball-Reference. Honoring the late Dick Barnett, a Knicks icon, couldn't inspire a breakthrough. Detroit's Cade Cunningham dazzled […]
Hurricanes survive Jacob Markström masterpiece, advance to second round with 2OT win over Devils
Heading into play Tuesday, the Carolina Hurricanes had lost six consecutive playoff games that went to overtime. Their last postseason goal in an extra period came in 2023 — at home against the New Jersey Devils in a Game 5.Perhaps the Hurricanes just needed to play the Devils again to rediscover their overtime touch.AdvertisementTwo years later, in Tuesday’s Game 5 of the teams’ first-round series, Sebastian Aho ripped a Shayne Gostisbehere pass past Jacob Markström for a 5-4 double-overtime win, sprinting to center ice in jubilation after making the Hurricanes the first NHL team to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.It’s the fifth straight season advancing past the first round for the Hurricanes, who will play the winner of the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens. The No. 1 seed Capitals lead that series 3-1.The Hurricanes had […]
Hurricanes survive Jacob Markström masterpiece, advance to second round with 2OT win over Devils
Heading into play Tuesday, the Carolina Hurricanes had lost six consecutive playoff games that went to overtime. Their last postseason goal in an extra period came in 2023 — at home against the New Jersey Devils in a Game 5.Perhaps the Hurricanes just needed to play the Devils again to rediscover their overtime touch.AdvertisementTwo years later, in Tuesday’s Game 5 of the teams’ first-round series, Sebastian Aho ripped a Shayne Gostisbehere pass past Jacob Markström for a 5-4 double-overtime win, sprinting to center ice in jubilation after making the Hurricanes the first NHL team to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.It’s the fifth straight season advancing past the first round for the Hurricanes, who will play the winner of the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens. The No. 1 seed Capitals lead that series 3-1.The Hurricanes had […]
Related
Astros to promote top pitching prospect AJ Blubaugh
HOUSTON — The Houston Astros will promote pitching prospect AJ Blubaugh to make his major-league debut on Wednesday afternoon in a spot start against the Detroit Tigers.Blubaugh boasts a 4.29 ERA across his first 21 Triple-A innings. He represented the Astros in the Futures Game last season. The 24-year-old right-hander finished with a 4.19 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.AdvertisementThe Athletic’s Keith Law slotted Blubaugh sixth in his preseason ranking of Houston’s prospects, higher than any pitcher in the Astros’ system. Blubaugh participated in major-league spring training, but is not on the team’s 40-man roster, so Houston will have to create a spot prior to Wednesday’s game.The Astros selected Blubaugh in the seventh round of the 2022 Draft from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. When Blubaugh throws his first pitch on Wednesday, he will become the school’s first pitcher to […]
Rafael Devers, Jarren Duran heating up as five-homer barrage jumpstarts Red Sox
TORONTO — Jarren Duran didn’t waste any time setting the tone on Tuesday night.Coming off a series in Cleveland in which he went 7-for-11 over the final two games, Duran smoked the third pitch of the game from Toronto starter Bowden Francis 378 feet to right-center field to set off a home run barrage for the Boston Red Sox in a 10-2 pummeling of the Blue Jays.AdvertisementAlex Bregman soon followed Duran’s leadoff homer with a solo shot of his own. Kristian Campbell clubbed a solo homer to open the second and in the third Devers opened the frame with another home run. After Bregman and Trevor Story singled in the third, Wilyer Abreu broke the solo homer streak with a three-run shot, giving the Red Sox to a 7-0 lead with their ace Garrett Crochet on the mound.Per Elias, the […]
5 NFL teams with big questions coming out of the draft
(This article was written with the assistance of Castmagic, an AI tool, and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Please reach out to us if you notice any mistakes.)In this episode of the "Inside Coverage" podcast, Yahoo Sports' Frank Schwab, Jori Epstein and Charles Robinson spent a significant amount of time discussing teams with the biggest question marks after the NFL Draft. Here are some of the teams they flagged as having the most uncertainty heading into the offseason:San Francisco 49ersSchwab ranked San Francisco's offseason 32nd — last in the NFL — due to major talent losses, questions about the aging core (like George Kittle, Trent Williams and Christian McCaffrey) and uncertainty around Brandon Aiyuk.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRobinson emphasized that the team lost a lot of core talent, and its defensively heavy draft needs to hit perfectly for San Francisco to […]
Jalen Brunson took off the hero’s cape, and the Knicks remain winless in a playoff series at MSG for 26 years
The New York Knicks' agonizing wait for a home playoff series win, now stretching 9,454 days, grew heavier after a 106-103 loss to the Detroit Pistons in Game 5 on April 29, 2025, at Madison Square Garden. Star guard Jalen Brunson struggled, scoring 16 points on 4-for-16 shooting, including 1-for-4 from three and 7-for-10 from the free-throw line, with seven assists, four turnovers, and four fouls in 36 minutes. The Pistons, who've dominated the Knicks at MSG this season with four wins in five games, extended New York's 26-year close-out game drought. Since their last home series-clinching victory on June 11, 1999, against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals (90-82), the Knicks have gone 0-7 in close-out games at MSG, per Basketball-Reference. Honoring the late Dick Barnett, a Knicks icon, couldn't inspire a breakthrough. Detroit's Cade Cunningham dazzled […]
Hurricanes survive Jacob Markström masterpiece, advance to second round with 2OT win over Devils
Heading into play Tuesday, the Carolina Hurricanes had lost six consecutive playoff games that went to overtime. Their last postseason goal in an extra period came in 2023 — at home against the New Jersey Devils in a Game 5.Perhaps the Hurricanes just needed to play the Devils again to rediscover their overtime touch.AdvertisementTwo years later, in Tuesday’s Game 5 of the teams’ first-round series, Sebastian Aho ripped a Shayne Gostisbehere pass past Jacob Markström for a 5-4 double-overtime win, sprinting to center ice in jubilation after making the Hurricanes the first NHL team to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.It’s the fifth straight season advancing past the first round for the Hurricanes, who will play the winner of the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens. The No. 1 seed Capitals lead that series 3-1.The Hurricanes had […]
Hurricanes survive Jacob Markström masterpiece, advance to second round with 2OT win over Devils
Heading into play Tuesday, the Carolina Hurricanes had lost six consecutive playoff games that went to overtime. Their last postseason goal in an extra period came in 2023 — at home against the New Jersey Devils in a Game 5.Perhaps the Hurricanes just needed to play the Devils again to rediscover their overtime touch.AdvertisementTwo years later, in Tuesday’s Game 5 of the teams’ first-round series, Sebastian Aho ripped a Shayne Gostisbehere pass past Jacob Markström for a 5-4 double-overtime win, sprinting to center ice in jubilation after making the Hurricanes the first NHL team to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.It’s the fifth straight season advancing past the first round for the Hurricanes, who will play the winner of the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens. The No. 1 seed Capitals lead that series 3-1.The Hurricanes had […]
Be the first to leave a comment