Voted for Houston after FF was set, but I am absolutely shocked at all the Duke votes. Here is the correct answer with explanations for each.
1. Houston - The fact that they haven’t won a championship in the last 7 years or so is kind’ve beyond me. Would’ve bet $ that they had at bare minimum 1 over that span. Kelvin Sampson is a hell of a coach and is top on my list for most deserving with the program he’s led over that short time frame and beyond. Also have never won it all.
2. Florida - UConn taking the eventual national champion to the brink (should’ve won) is always a fantastic calling card. Preseason #21 is by far the lowest preseason rank out of the remaining 4, so they were kind’ve under the radar? Will Clayton Jr. is an absolute baller (has saved their season twice in the tourney) and will need to have continued to go off for them to have lifted the trophy at the end. Coaching angle? I liked Golden before the investigation of “being an absolute creep weirdo” for the lack of a better description (PS but Hurley is such a bad guy!)
3. Auburn - For some reason kind’ve can’t stand Bruce Pearl? Just the cockiness behind some of his post game interviews rubs me the wrong way. But looking past him, they haven’t won a national champion in program history. SEC Football school that has become a basketball school because of NIL ultimately makes them worse than Florida if they were to win it all in my opinion.
4. Duke - People on this thread have lost their minds. Even going to lengths to explain why they want them to win is unfathomable and grounds for jail time as a “UConn fan”. Cooper Flagg, although deserving to win a title, is the main reason our b2b2b bid never really had legs from the get go. Which brings me to the coach… Jon Scheyer is absolutely the worst coach out of the 4 and the least deserving. Handed the keys to a program that can easily recruit their way to national championships because of their brand (recruited, what, 4 or 5 out of top 17 kids?). Seeing them lift the trophy would be the only outcome that would actually make me angry.