Florida vs. Houston Opening Odds: NCAA Tournament National Championship Set as Coin Flip

Iain MacMillan | Apr 6, 2025

Florida is a slight underdog against Houston in the NCAA Tournament. / Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

I'm going to be honest with you, I had a version of this article virtually written with Duke being in the National Championship to take on Florida. They were up by double-digits with less than five minutes to go, so I think it'd be safe to get a head start. I was wrong.

The Houston Cougars completed one of the biggest comebacks in one of the biggest games in NCAA Tournament history. Now, they'll be the ones to take on the Gators in Monday night's finale. Houston was the tournament runner-up in back-to-back years in 1983 and 1984 and will now return to the final for the first time since.

They'll face a Gators team that battled through one of the best college basketball conferences in recent history all season long and started playing its best at the perfect time. They tore through the SEC Tournament and then carried that momentum into the NCAA Tournament. Now, they are in the national championship for the first time since 2007.

Let's take a look at the opening odds for Monday night's final.

Florida vs. Houston National Championship Opening Odds

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Spread

• Florida +1 (-115)
• Houston -1 (-105)

Moneyline

• Florida -105
• Houston -115

Total

• OVER 140.5 (-110)
• UNDER 140.5 (-110)

Florida was second on the odds list behind Duke heading into the tournament, but based on how impressive the Cougars have been the past two weeks, this game is virtually set as a pick'em. DraftKings has Houston as a small favorite at -115, but FanDuel has Florida posted as the favorite at -111. Regardless of where the line eventually closes, I'm confident in saying it'll be a near coin flip come Monday night.

These two schools have met on the court just twice in their history and haven't faced each other since 1973, when the Cougars won in a 97-73 blowout in Houston.

Strap in. Monday night is going to be must-watch television.

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