Houston, Florida play for title and
put a different spin on the underdog role to wrap March Madness
[April 07, 2025]
By EDDIE PELLS
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Whoever said there were no great underdog stories
left in March Madness, or that the title would go to whichever team
spends the most money — or amasses the gaudiest collection of big
names from the transfer portal — probably never checked out Houston.
And anyone who thought college hoops was leaving behind teams with
no NBA-ready stars coached by tart-as-lemon lifers who care more
about the size of a player's wingspan and heart than his 3-point
percentage — well, that’s these Cougars, too.
Coach Kelvin Sampson’s squad of defenders and deniers face Florida
for the national title Monday night. They wrap up a front-runner’s
Final Four that featured all No. 1 seeds but ends with the two top
ones — Auburn and Duke — sitting at home.
“We've kind of done it our way,” said Sampson who, at 69, would
surpass Jim Calhoun to become the oldest coach to win the title if
his Cougars prevail. “It's worked out pretty good.”
The Gators have been overlooked in their own way, too
Florida, a 1 1/2-point pick in this game per BetMGM Sportsbook, has
played underdog in its own way this year.
The Gators (35-4) were picked to finish sixth in their (very good
Southeastern) conference and are led by a player, Walter Clayton
Jr., whose first sport was football.
Their roster is filled with late bloomers from mid-majors (Clayton,
Will Richard, Alijah Martin) and a few more out of high school who
were 3-star recruits at best (Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh).
Even so, it would be hard to put Florida, with a rich athletic
department, rich history and playing in a rich conference, in the
same category as Houston — a commuter school in America’s
fourth-largest city that gets the side eye from some locals who call
it “Cougar High.”
Houston's transition to Big 12 created new narratives
When Houston (35-4) left the American Athletic Conference in 2023 to
join the Big 12, it immediately became the school with the smallest
athletic budget among the five (now four) major conferences.
But things are changing. It will complete a $150 million expansion
to its football facility this summer.
Athletic director Eddie Nunez said the Cougars are fully committed
to revenue sharing under the new rules expected to take over college
sports next school year, and that Sampson is evolving as well as
anyone.
“Everyone says he's old-school, but the reality is, he gets it and
he surrounds himself with people who can help him with NIL, revenue
share, anything that's laid out,” Nunez said. “Bottom line, he'll do
what he does best. He builds a culture and gets the right kids with
the right work ethic.”
Houston's presence in the Big 12 played into the predominant story
line of March Madness this year: From the Sweet 16 on, there were no
teams from small conferences and, so, no glass slippers left in a
tournament that was losing its soul.
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Houston's J'Wan Roberts (13) reacts during the first half in the
national semifinals at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball
tournament, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric
Gay)
Houston has tradition — everyone remembers Phi
Slama Jama — and is building a budget. Still, calling Sampson's
program a college basketball monster is missing the point.
His biggest portal piece is LJ Cryer, the guard who won a title with
Baylor in 2021 before transferring and become the Cougars' leading
scorer. If Houston is going to place a player in the NBA next
season, Cryer probably is the one.
“I don’t think necessarily that applies to my program,” Sampson said
when asked if the portal has changed the nature of his job.
Houston’s long-armed defenders make life hard on opponents
The rest of the roster spends time making life hard on players who
certainly will be in the NBA soon. See the last 10 minutes of
Houston's 70-67 win over Duke on Saturday.
They are players like J’Wan Roberts, a 23-year-old senior who has
played 148 games in five seasons, all at Houston — a career that was
extended because of the coronavirus pandemic. Or Emanuel Sharp, now
in his third year with Sampson and averaging about three 3-pointers
a game.
Houston’s calling card is scrapping out games that turn ugly. It has
the nation’s top defense in field goal percentage (.382) and points
allowed (58.5).
“I think they’ll pressure the ball screen, try to get the ball out
of Walt’s hands. But they rotate, they’re long, they play so hard,
so tough," Gators coach Todd Golden said.
In an era when players like Duke's Cooper Flagg — a 6-foot-9 force
of nature who can dunk, spin and shoot the 3 — get air time, there’s
not as much room for, say, Houston's Jojo Tugler, a 6-8 sophomore
out of Monroe, Louisiana, who has more rebounds than points this
season and whose four blocks against Duke gave him 77 in 35 games.
“One of the first things we do when we bring a kid on campus is we
measure their wingspan because of how we play pick-and-roll
defense,” Sampson said. “There’s a lot of 7-foot kids that are very
lumbering. They have a hard time moving. Those kids would not
function well in the way we play defense."
CBS might not be rushing to make highlight reels of those kind of
things.
Sampson goes after the kind of players who don't care about that.
“That's what you want to be part of,” Roberts said. “You want to be
with someone who's going to develop you, going to love you and not
let you have bad days.”
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