Star guard Walter Clayton Jr. didn't make his first basket from the field until the 7:54 mark, but he came alive late to help spur the Gators to the college basketball mountaintop once more. His 3-pointer coming out of the final media timeout evened the score at 60-60 and showed how the Gators were finally able to crack the code on Houston's suffocating defense.

Three weeks ago, 24 staffers submitted their predictions for The Athletic’s consensus men’s NCAA Tournament bracket. Eleven voters picked Duke to win the national championship, followed by six for Florida and five for Houston.

The Houston Cougars' epic comeback win over the Duke Blue Devils set up an NCAA tournament championship game matchup with the Florida Gators. The pair of No. 1 seeds will face off on Monday night in San Antonio.