How to Watch Auburn Tigers vs. Florida Gators Final Four, News and Notes

#1 Auburn Tigers (32-5) vs. #1 Florida Gators (34-4)
NCAA Final Four – National Semifinal Game
April 5, 2025 at 5:09 p.m. (CT)
The Alamodome (31,900) | San Antonio, Texas

Television: CBS
Play-By-Play: Ian Eagle
Color Analysts: Bill Raftery and Grant Hill
Sideline Reporter: Tracy Wolfson

Radio: Auburn Sports Network
Play-By-Play: Andy Burcham
Color Analyst: Randall Dickey

» No. 1 overall seed, South Regional and SEC regular-season champion Auburn (32-5) meets West Regional and SEC Tournament champion Florida (34-4) in the first-ever Final Four matchup between two SEC teams in the national semifinal game of the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship held on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

» The winner will face either East Regional champion Duke (35-3) or Midwest Regional champion Houston (34-4) in the national championship game on Monday night at 7:50 p.m. (CT) on CBS.

» Auburn is making its second Final Four appearance in program history and first trip since the team’s magical run in 2019. The Tigers join Arkansas, Florida and Kentucky as the only SEC schools to make multiple Final Fours in conference history.

» This season marks the fifth time two SEC teams have advanced to the Final Four and the first since 2014 when Florida played eventual national champion UConn and Kentucky beat Wisconsin at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

» The Tigers enter the Final Four with a program-record 32 victories on the season, which is tied for the 13th-most victories in a single season in SEC history. The only other SEC programs that have won at least 32 games in a season are Arkansas, Florida and Kentucky.

» AU is making its 14th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and sixth under head coach Bruce Pearl (2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025). It is 23-13 all-time (.639) in NCAA Tournament play.

» Saturday's Final Four matchup against Florida is the second time Auburn has played an SEC opponent in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers defeated Kentucky 77-71 in overtime in the 2019 Elite Eight to advance to the program's only previous Final Four.

» Auburn won the NCAA South Regional with a 70-64 victory over No. 2 seed Michigan State in the Elite Eight to advance to the Final Four for the second time in program history.

» Auburn was a coveted No. 1 seed once before in 1999 (defeated No. 16 Winthrop and No. 9 Oklahoma State; lost to No. 4 Ohio State in the Sweet 16) and is the No. 1 overall seed for the first time in program history. The Tigers join Florida, Kentucky and LSU as the only schools that have earned multiple No. 1 seeds as a member of the SEC since 1979 when the selection committee started seeding every team.

» Head Coach Bruce Pearl was named SEC Coach of the Year after leading Auburn to the SEC regular-season title in a historic year for the league. It was the Tigers’ fifth SEC Championship (3 regular season and 2 tournament) in the last eight seasons. Pearl set a program record with his eighth NCAA Tournament win against Alabama State.

» Auburn was ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 Poll for eight-straight weeks from Jan. 13 to March 3 and are one of only two SEC teams to ever be ranked No. 1 for at least six-straight weeks in the AP Poll, joining Kentucky. Auburn is currently ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll and Coaches Poll.

PLAY THE BEST TO BE THE BEST

» Auburn is just the second-ever NCAA Final Four team to play all three teams left (Houston, Duke and Florida) in the field during the regular season next to Florida in 2013-14, according to NCAA Stats research.

» The Tigers played the Cougars on a neutral-site in November, Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge in December and Florida at home in SEC play.

» During that campaign, Florida lost at Wisconsin (59-53) in November, lost at UConn (65-64) in December, beat Kentucky twice at Rupp Arena (69-59) and at home (84-65), before falling to UConn in the national semifinals (63-53).

A LOOK INSIDE THE SERIES

» Auburn leads 92-84 in the all-time series with Florida. However, the Gators won the only regular-season meeting between the two schools, 90-81, at Neville Arena on Feb. 8.

» The Tigers and Gators have split the last six meetings in the series. Auburn is looking to beat Florida in a postseason game, after falling to the Gators in the teams’ lone regular-season game for the second-straight year.

» Last season, Auburn beat Florida in the SEC Championship Game, 86-67, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, to claim the program’s third-ever SEC Tournament title after the Gators defeated the Tigers, 81-65, in Gainesville, Fla.

» Saturday's contest marks the second time Auburn has faced an SEC team in the NCAA Tournament. The fifth-seeded Tigers previously upset second-seeded Kentucky, 77-71, in an overtime thriller in the 2019 Elite Eight in Kansas City, Mo.

» In neutral-site games, Auburn leads UF, 5-4, with all nine of those previous contests occurring in the SEC Tournament.

» Bruce Pearl is 13-14 lifetime versus Florida in his head coaching career, including 5-9 at Auburn. Meanwhile, Florida head coach Todd Golden is 2-2 against Auburn, with all four meetings during his three seasons in Gainesville.

» Should Auburn advance to the title game, the Tigers are 0-5 in the all-time series with Duke and 2-7 in the all-time series versus Houston.

» Auburn and Duke met this season (L, 78-84) at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Dec. 4. Coach Pearl is 0-2 versus Duke as Auburn previously dropped a 78-72 decision to the then top-ranked Blue Devils in the 2018 Maui Invitational.

» Against Houston, then No. 11-ranked Auburn beat the fourth-ranked Cougars, 74-69, at the Toyota Center on Nov. 9 in Houston, Texas. The two teams have played once before in the NCAA Tournament with the top-seeded Cougars claiming an 81-65 win over the ninth-seed Tigers in the second round of the 2023 Midwest Regional in Birmingham, Ala. – Coach Pearl's first career game against Houston.

SIDEBARS

» Florida head coach Todd Golden served on Coach Pearl’s staff at Auburn for two seasons – as the director of basketball operations during the 2014-15 season and as an assistant coach in 2015-16. Golden co-captained the USA Open Team, coached by Pearl, that won a gold medal at the 2009 Maccabiah Games in Israel.

» Coach Pearl considers Golden like a son and gave him his first big break in the college coaching ranks. Golden and Auburn associate head coach Steven Pearl, who played together on the 2009 gold medal team, are best friends and speak with each other daily.

» This year’s Final Four is comprised of three coaches who are members of the Jewish Coaches Association – Pearl (Auburn), Golden (Florida) and Jon Scheyer (Duke).

TIGERS vs. 2025 NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD (FINAL FOUR)

» Twenty-four of Auburn's 33 regular season games this season were against the NCAA Tournament field with the Tigers posting a 19-5 record in these games.

» Auburn played all three of the other Final Four participants who are also the other three No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament including a 74-69 victory over Houston on Nov. 9 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, during the regular season. Additionally, the Tigers played eight other games against top four seeds including four games against No. 2 seeds, two games against No. 3 seeds and two games against No. 4 seeds prior to March Madness.

» The SEC is the second conference to send two No. 1 seeds to the Final Four in the same year and the first since the BIG EAST in 1985.

» Saturday's semifinal matchup between Auburn and Florida is the first time two SEC teams have faced each other in the Final Four (semifinals or final) and the 12th Final Four matchup between teams from the same conference.

ALL FOUR NO. 1 SEEDS MAKE FINAL FOUR

» This season marks the second time that all four No. 1 seeds made it to the Final Four, since seeding began in 1979. It is also the first time since 2008 when Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina and UCLA advanced to the Final Four with the Jayhawks defeating Memphis for the title. Just like that season, the 2025 Final Four is being played in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

TWO SEC TEAMS ADVANCE TO THE FINAL FOUR

» The Southeastern Conference has two Final Four participants for the fifth time in the conference's history and the first time since 2014. In three of the previous four Final Fours with two SEC teams, an SEC team won the title.

» Arkansas brought home the crown in 1994, while Kentucky was the last team standing in 1996. Florida won it all in 2006.

» With its second Final Four appearance, Auburn joins Kentucky (17), Florida (6), LSU (4) and Arkansas (2) as the only SEC programs that have made multiple appearances in the Final Four. The Razorbacks made four additional trips to the Final Four prior to joining the SEC for a total of six Final Fours.

FINAL FOUR APPEARANCES SINCE 2019

2 Auburn
2 The Rest of the SEC Combined (Alabama in 2024 and Florida in 2025)

SEASONS WITH TWO SEC FINAL FOUR PARTICIPANTS

1994 Arkansas (won title) and Florida (lost in national semifinals)
1996 Kentucky (won title) and Mississippi State (lost in national semifinals)
2006 Florida (won title) and LSU (lost in national semifinals)
2014 Kentucky (national runner-up) and Florida (lost in the national semifinals)
2025 Auburn and Florida

AUBURN IN THE LONE STAR STATE

» Auburn is 12-24 all-time when playing in the state of Texas. The national semifinal is the Tigers’ fourth game in the Lone Star State this season as Auburn defeated fourth-ranked Houston, 74-69, on Nov. 9 at the Toyota Center in Houston and won at Texas, 87-82, on Jan. 7 at the Moody Center in Austin. The Tigers had a setback at No. 22 Texas A&M (L, 72-83) on March 4 – one game after clinching the SEC regular-season championship.

» Saturday’s contest marks the third time Auburn has played an NCAA Tournament game in the Lone Star State. The eighth-seeded Tigers previously defeated fourth-seeded UNLV, 70-63, in the NCAA Sweet 16, before falling to second-seeded and eventual national champion Louisville (L, 76-84) in the program’s first Elite Eight appearance at The Summit in Houston in 1986.

MICHIGAN STATE RECAP

» With its win over Michigan State in the Elite Eight, Auburn is now 4-0 against the Big Ten Conference this season. The Tigers defeated Ohio State, 91-53, as part of Holiday Hoopsgiving on Dec. 14 at State Farm Arena and beat No. 16 Purdue, 87-69, on Dec. 21 in Birmingham, Ala. They also beat Michigan, 78-65, in the Sweet 16.

» Auburn led 33-24 at the half and improved to 28-1 on the season when leading at halftime.

» With its 16 assists in the Elite Eight, Auburn now has 602 assists on the season, joining last year’s squad, which set a program record with 622 assists, as the only teams to record 600 assists in a season in program history.

» Auburn committed only six turnovers in its Elite Eight win over Michigan State, which is one off the Tigers’ NCAA tournament record of five turnovers against Virginia in the 2019 Final Four and North Carolina in the 1985 Sweet 16.

» Auburn made 11 free throws matching the 2016-17 Tigers for fourth on the school’s single-season free throw list with 562 made free throws.

» Auburn was led by NCAA South Regional Most Outstanding Player Johni Broome and NCAA All-South Regional Team member Tahaad Pettiford, who both scored in double figures. Broome recorded his 81st career double-double with 25 points and 14 rebounds. It was his fifth career double-double in the NCAA Tournament, which matched Jeff Moore for the most in program history. Broome is averaging 17.3 points and 13.3 rebounds per contest in the tournament.

» It was Broome’s fourth game of the season with at least 25 points and 10 rebounds. He moved ahead of Bryce Brown and Frank Ford into fourth on Auburn’s NCAA career scoring chart with 126 points and leaped Moore into second on Auburn’s career rebounding chart with 958 boards. He also jumped Chuck Person and Morris into second on Auburn’s NCAA Tournament career rebounding list with 84 boards. Broome moved past Bryce Brown (2018-19) and KT Harrell (2014-15) into sixth on Auburn’s single-season scoring list with 654 points. Additionally, Broome moved past Person for the sixth-most field goals in a season in program history with 257.

» For the fifth time this season, Broome recorded a double-double in the first half as he went for 17 points and 11 rebounds before halftime against the Spartans.

» Tahaad Pettiford scored in double figures for the fourth-straight NCAA Tournament game to begin his career as he finished with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, to go with three assists, one block, one rebound and one steal in Auburn’s win over Michigan State in the Elite Eight. He is averaging 17.3 points in the tournament. It was his 22nd game in double figures this season, which is tied with Wesley Person (1990-91) for sixth among Tiger freshmen all-time. Pettiford made four field goals, giving him 145 field goals on the season, which moved him past Charles Barkley into ninth place among Auburn freshmen all-time.

PLAYER TO WATCH: JOHNI BROOME

» Johni Broome was named the Most Outstanding Player of the South Regional after averaging 17.3 points on 50.0 percent shooting and 13.3 rebounds including two double-doubles in Auburn's four wins. His five career double-doubles in the NCAA Tournament are tied with Kentucky's Dan Issell, Shaquille O'Neal of LSU and Auburn's Jeff Moore for the most in SEC history.

» Broome has recorded a double-double in the first half of Auburn's last two games going for 10 points and 11 rebounds against Michigan in the Sweet 16 and 17 points and 11 boards against Michigan State in the Elite Eight before halftime, joining Purdue's Zach Edey as the only players to record back-to-back first-half double-doubles in the NCAA Tournament since 2015.

» Broome had 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting and 14 rebounds against Michigan State in the Elite Eight, becoming only the second player to score at least 25 points and pull down at least 12 boards on 75 percent shooting against a top-two seed in the NCAA Tournament, joining Larry Bird.

» Broome and Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon in 1984 are the only players to score at least 25 points on 75 percent shooting and grab at least 10 rebounds in the Elite Eight in the last 50 seasons.