Houston, Florida play for title and put a different spin on the underdog role to wrap March Madness

SAN ANTONIO — 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.

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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