On Monday, Florida and Houston will face off in San Antonio for the men's NCAA championship game, bringing March Madness to an end. CBS sports contributor Jon Rothstein joins "CBS Mornings" to break down the matchup.

San Antonio

Florida and Houston are set to compete in the men's NCAA championship game in San Antonio, aired on CBS. The game concludes the month-long competition known as March Madness. CBS Sports contributor John Rothstein has analyzed the matchup, highlighting the key factors of toughness and resilience each team brings to the court. Houston, under Coach Kelvin Sampson, is noted for its strong culture and has shown impressive performance throughout the tournament. Meanwhile, Florida, led by the young coach Todd Golden, and featuring standout guard Walter Clayton Jr., has performed exceptionally despite limited prior success in the tournament.

Both teams have demonstrated significant resilience, each securing wins in closely contested games throughout the tournament. Houston overcame Purdue and staged a comeback against Duke, while Florida edged past UConn and made a notable comeback against Texas Tech. Houston fans are expected to turn out in force, enhancing the atmosphere of the game. Despite the anticipation surrounding Houston’s potential win, Florida's performance through the season and Todd Golden's strategic leadership have set the scene for a tightly contested final.

Houston's Kelvin Sampson, who has amassed nearly 800 wins, is recognized for his traditional coaching approach, which has led to a thriving team culture. Rothstein maintains his prediction of a Houston victory, influenced by the team’s resilient performance and robust culture observed during the tournament. While also shedding light on Duke's recent tournament journey, Rothstein emphasizes the unpredictability and unique opportunities presented by the NCAA tournament format.



Analysis of NCAA championship matchup between Florida and Houston

The field of 68 has been whittled down to just two tonight. Florida and Houston will face off here in San Antonio on CBS for the right to be crowned kings of men's college basketball. So who's going to win it all? That's the question. Let's bring in CBS sports contributor John Rothstein to break it all down with some happy Championship Monday, man. Happy Championship Monday. So these matchups are as good as it gets. What are you looking at tonight? Well, the toughness factor. Can Florida match Houston's toughness? Houston under Kelvin Sampson has built the best culture in college basketball. Florida's frontcourt needs to match the Cougars up front. That is the matchup to watch tonight in San Antonio. Well, you mentioned the word toughness. They've been through it. These teams are battle tested. Now, when it comes to their resilience, what stands out? Well, the resiliency of both teams, you know, the late coach of Marquette, Al McGuire, who won a national championship in 1977, said years ago to win a national championship in a six game tournament, you have to win one game that comes down the wire. Florida and Houston have each won two. Houston had the close win against Purdue. It also had that epic comeback against Duke on Saturday. And how about Florida beat UConn in the round of 32 in a close game and also had that epic comeback against Texas Tech and the Elite Eight. These are the two most resilient teams in college basketball. We were talking during the commercial break about Houston's coach, Kelvin Sampson. I mean, he's won nearly 800 games. Old school coach. He does it the old school way. But his team, they step up for him every single time. It feels like a coronation for Houston to win the national championship. They're about 199 miles away from the Fertitta Center where they play their home games. I'm feeling a red feeling in San Antonio tonight with a slew of Houston fans. But this is not a coronation. Florida has been there all season long and they have the most electric guard in college basketball in Walter Clayton Jr., who is making as many clutch shots as we've seen from a guard in the NCAA tournament since Shabazz Napier did it for UConn in 2014. But we have to mention Todd Golden, 39-year-old babyface coach, and he got this Florida squad humming. No, he has been unbelievable since he took over at San Francisco in his first head coaching job. But here's the amazing thing about Todd Golden in Florida. Prior to this season, Florida and this nucleus of players and Todd Golden had never won a game before in the NCAA tournament. Now they're 40 minutes away from winning a national title. Remember, it's not anarchy. It's just college basketball. Jay's dropping some gems. All right, for the record, you picked Houston, Duke, Florida and Michigan State for your final, for your 75%, right? It's pretty good, better than most. What are you looking for in this one? Are you going to give us your pick? Do you want us to wait? Because we'll hold on to it if you want to tease us a little bit. Look, I picked Houston over Florida at the start of the NCAA tournament. I'm not wavering on that prediction. There's something about Houston's culture. There's something about the resiliency of this basketball team, and we saw that on Saturday night in that epic win over Duke. There's something about Kelvin Sampson. There's something about the Cougars, and the Cougars are going to win the national championship. All right, let's pivot a little bit and talk about Duke. One hell of a ride. Yeah, and Cooper Flagg was as great as advertised all season long. What do you think about his future moving forward? I mean, he's going to be a generational talent at the next level. Yeah, I mean, we saw that in the game for 38 minutes against Houston on Saturday night. But here's the thing. In a one-and-done type scenario like the NCAA tournament, you never know when you're going to be in that situation again if you're John Shire and Duke. My heart breaks for John Shire, who has done a seamless job replacing Mike Krzyzewski at Duke. He's done a tremendous job. But you have to ask yourself the question, when is Duke going to be in a situation again where you have a nine-point lead in a national semifinal with three minutes of play with a generational talent like Cooper Flagg on your team? With the ball in his hand. No question. Yeah, Jay, you're the best, man. I appreciate you.

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