ESPN analyst and former Duke player Jay Bilas thinks Florida and Duke could be in for a war if they wind up meeting in the national championship. Bilas gave his analysis on the potential NCAA tournament final showdown, calling the two teams the best of the remaining four.
ESPN’s Jay Bilas thinks Duke vs. Florida could be the toughest National Championship
Bilas said he thought Florida was the best team heading into the end of the year, but now the Blue Devils have overpassed them, playing in second gear since the tournament began.
Duke vs. Florida would be the toughest matchup that either team has played all year: pic.twitter.com/CjND6SuC50
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) April 3, 2025
“I saw, courtside, Florida at full strength and the way they played towards the end of the year, middle of the year on, I didn’t think anyone’s playing better than them, I thought they were the best team, and you know, right now Duke’s playing the best, Duke’s playing than they [Florida] are now,” Bilas said.
“Is that going to continue next week? I mean, I don’t know when hot streaks begin and when they end and all that stuff, but your point on [Florida guard Walter] Clayton [Jr.] like he’s a bucket-getter, and he’s one of the few guys remaining that if an offense breaks down, he can just take it on himself and go find you a basket.”
“And like, you’re right, so he was a football, but basically a hotshot football recruit coming out of high school and wasn’t really recruited for basketball, so he goes to Iona, plays for Pitino, played in the NCAA tournament against UConn they got beat, and then he transferred to Florida, and he was almost this good last year offensively, but he’s a way better defender now.”
“Their whole team has taken a leap from being in the 90s in defensive efficiency to being top ten; like your point about the four teams, all four teams in the Final Four are ranked in the top ten in both offense and defense, which is really unusual to have that many teams that can do that.”
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“But I think Florida with their size, their offensive rebounding, their big guys are skilled and they’re physical and tough, they’re going to be, if Duke played them, that would I think probably be the toughest matchup for both that they would see all year.”
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