For a long time Saturday night, it looked like we’d be getting a Florida vs. Duke championship game.
Houston didn’t like that plan.
The Cougars had a comeback that’s still hard to believe, making every play down the stretch as they overcame a nine-point deficit against Duke with a little more than two minutes left to advance. In a Final Four in which any combination of the No. 1 seeds would have been worthy of playing in the title game on Monday night, we will get a great matchup between a Houston team that breezed through the Big 12 and a Florida team that was in a historically dominant SEC but easily won the league tournament. It’s just not the matchup it looked like we’d have for most of the second game Saturday.
Advertisement
Here’s the pick for the title game, with odds from BetMGM:
(All times Eastern.)
Houston (+1.5) over Florida, 8:50 p.m. Monday
It’s not that Duke didn’t compete hard, or Florida won’t compete hard, or that any of the 35 teams Houston beat this season lacked in competitive desire. But Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars just have a different gear in that category.
We saw it Saturday night. Their win probability dipped to less than 10% at times and it didn’t matter. They seemed to be a step quicker on every rebound or loose ball. They willed themselves to a win. Everyone preaches culture, but Houston coach Kelvin Sampson has truly instilled one.
Advertisement
It’s not like the Cougars aren’t talented either. They ranked No. 9 in offensive efficiency in college basketball this season, via KenPom.com, with the best 3-point percentage in the nation. The defense was No. 1, and that’s obvious any time you watch Houston.
Yet Houston is still slow to get its credit. Even though the major analytics sites like KenPom.com, EvanMiya.com, BartTorvik.com and Haslammetrics.com have Houston ranked higher, Florida is favored. The Gators are a more familiar brand, with a long SEC history and two national championships. Houston has never won a title (though it does have a rich history) and the program was dormant before Sampson arrived. And Florida is a worthy favorite; the Gators are a smart team with a coach in Todd Golden who will be a star for a while and a true college superstar in Walter Clayton Jr. But it’s another slight to Houston, which is still striving to get the respect it has earned after moving to the Big 12 and dominating that league for two straight seasons.
Houston is one win from not having to worry about being disrespected again. Florida doesn’t really have a weakness either. The Gators are good on both ends, have size and great depth, have proven a few times in this NCAA tournament that they won’t be scared when they face a deficit late in a game and surely have played the type of schedule that prepared them for this moment. But in picking between two worthy teams, it’s not a bad angle to assume Houston will just find a way. Sampson’s Cougars have a toughness that’s pretty special.
This news was originally published on this post .
About the author
Arsenal na kolotoči. PSG si před vítězným gólem vyměnil rekordní počet přihrávek
„Těch šestadvacet přihrávek ukazuje na dynamiku a kreativitu, kterými disponujeme. Máme opravdu silný tým,“ rozplýval se portugalský záložník Vitinha, který byl vyhlášen mužem zápasu. Gólová akce začala v čase 02:07 rozehraným volným kopem u postranní čáry, balon si postupně vyměnili téměř všichni hráči PSG. Precizní dílo završil Dembélé.Hosté na Emirates vysloveně vtrhli, Arsenalu 25 minut téměř nepůjčili míč. V tento čas byl poměr držení míče 80 % ku 20 % v jejich prospěch. „Ukázali jsme velkou kvalitu. Snažili jsme se prosadit svojí hrou. Bylo skvělé, že jsme dali brzy gól. Jasně, pak jsme v průběhu utkání někdy trpěli, ale mohli jsme vstřelit klidně tři góly,“ uvedl trenér PSG Luis Enrique.26 - There were 26 passes in the build-up to Ousmane Dembélé’s winner for Paris SG, both the most for a goal for the French side and the most for a goal conceded by Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League on […]
Crystal Palace reap the rewards as Oliver Glasner’s patience starts to pay off
Oliver Glasner openly acknowledges he is not instinctively a patient man, but the Crystal Palace manager has been more forgiving than most of those players who have taken time to find their feet at the south London club.For Daichi Kamada, that might in part be born of familiarity from their time together at Eintracht Frankfurt. Yet Glasner had no prior connection with Ismaila Sarr nor Eddie Nketiah and all three, at certain points and to different extents, have found life taxing at Palace since arriving last summer.AdvertisementKamada, a high earner after his free transfer from Lazio, has only made a sporadic impact this season, operating mostly off the substitutes’ bench, before gradually delivering a more meaningful contribution over the past month or so. He came with a strong reputation; expectations were high.The story is similar for Nketiah, who joined from Arsenal […]
Giannis Antetokounmpo: Tyrese Haliburton’s dad ‘disrespectful’ in postgame run-in
<!--> Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton was so excited about Indiana's improbable overtime rally that he didn't realize what led to the postgame scuffle between his teammates and the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.Then he got to the locker room, watched the replay and winced when he saw his father, John, on the court, confronting two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo."I had no idea it happened until I got back to the locker room and they showed me the video of my pops," the two-time All-Star said after he made the decisive layup with 1.3 seconds left to give Indiana a 119-118 victory and a 4-1 series win. "We had a little talk about it. I don't agree with what transpired there. I think basketball is basketball and let's keep it on the court. I think he just got excited."ADVERTISEMENT -->Antetokounmpo wasn't pleased, either, […]
Palátovo New Jersey podlehlo Carolině v prodloužení a vypadlo z play off NHL
Dnes 30. 4., 5:56Hokejisté New Jersey s Ondřejem Palátem v sestavě podlehli v pátém utkání osmifinále NHL Carolině 4:5 v prodloužení. V play off tak končí, když Hurricanes podlehli jasně 1:4 na zápasy.DiskuzeSdílejte článek
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 […]
Related
Arsenal na kolotoči. PSG si před vítězným gólem vyměnil rekordní počet přihrávek
„Těch šestadvacet přihrávek ukazuje na dynamiku a kreativitu, kterými disponujeme. Máme opravdu silný tým,“ rozplýval se portugalský záložník Vitinha, který byl vyhlášen mužem zápasu. Gólová akce začala v čase 02:07 rozehraným volným kopem u postranní čáry, balon si postupně vyměnili téměř všichni hráči PSG. Precizní dílo završil Dembélé.Hosté na Emirates vysloveně vtrhli, Arsenalu 25 minut téměř nepůjčili míč. V tento čas byl poměr držení míče 80 % ku 20 % v jejich prospěch. „Ukázali jsme velkou kvalitu. Snažili jsme se prosadit svojí hrou. Bylo skvělé, že jsme dali brzy gól. Jasně, pak jsme v průběhu utkání někdy trpěli, ale mohli jsme vstřelit klidně tři góly,“ uvedl trenér PSG Luis Enrique.26 - There were 26 passes in the build-up to Ousmane Dembélé’s winner for Paris SG, both the most for a goal for the French side and the most for a goal conceded by Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League on […]
Crystal Palace reap the rewards as Oliver Glasner’s patience starts to pay off
Oliver Glasner openly acknowledges he is not instinctively a patient man, but the Crystal Palace manager has been more forgiving than most of those players who have taken time to find their feet at the south London club.For Daichi Kamada, that might in part be born of familiarity from their time together at Eintracht Frankfurt. Yet Glasner had no prior connection with Ismaila Sarr nor Eddie Nketiah and all three, at certain points and to different extents, have found life taxing at Palace since arriving last summer.AdvertisementKamada, a high earner after his free transfer from Lazio, has only made a sporadic impact this season, operating mostly off the substitutes’ bench, before gradually delivering a more meaningful contribution over the past month or so. He came with a strong reputation; expectations were high.The story is similar for Nketiah, who joined from Arsenal […]
Giannis Antetokounmpo: Tyrese Haliburton’s dad ‘disrespectful’ in postgame run-in
<!--> Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton was so excited about Indiana's improbable overtime rally that he didn't realize what led to the postgame scuffle between his teammates and the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.Then he got to the locker room, watched the replay and winced when he saw his father, John, on the court, confronting two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo."I had no idea it happened until I got back to the locker room and they showed me the video of my pops," the two-time All-Star said after he made the decisive layup with 1.3 seconds left to give Indiana a 119-118 victory and a 4-1 series win. "We had a little talk about it. I don't agree with what transpired there. I think basketball is basketball and let's keep it on the court. I think he just got excited."ADVERTISEMENT -->Antetokounmpo wasn't pleased, either, […]
Palátovo New Jersey podlehlo Carolině v prodloužení a vypadlo z play off NHL
Dnes 30. 4., 5:56Hokejisté New Jersey s Ondřejem Palátem v sestavě podlehli v pátém utkání osmifinále NHL Carolině 4:5 v prodloužení. V play off tak končí, když Hurricanes podlehli jasně 1:4 na zápasy.DiskuzeSdílejte článek
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 […]
Be the first to leave a comment