One of the benefits for Florida Basketball fans of winning the earlier of the two Final Four games was the ability to sit back and watch the second game between Duke and Houston without too much stress of having to worry about the outcome.
And for 32 minutes, it looked all but certain the Gators would be matched up with Duke on Monday at 8:50 PM.
But the beauty of sports is that nothing is guaranteed, and it won't be Duke standing across from the Gators as Houston staged a comeback for the ages to punch their own ticket to the national title game.
Florida Basketball: Devil Is In The Details
All tournament long, it felt like a collision course with Duke was inevitable. The Blue Devils had been steamrolling everyone, and with 8:17 left in the game, they had built a 14-point lead against Houston.
On social media, I floated the question of how Gator fans felt about the prospect of Alex Condon trying to guard Cooper Flagg given Condon's regression during the backend of the season.
What I meant to ask was how we felt about Flagg having to watch Condon on TV on Monday during the national title game because Houston did something no one has done to Duke in a long time:
They punched back.
And as it turned out, blowing a bunch of teams out in the ACC did not leave Duke prepared for a team that was willing to punch back.
Even with three minutes left, Duke had a nine-point lead and a 95% chance to win the game.
Even with 33 seconds left, Duke had a three-point lead and the ball to inbound with an 84% chance to win.
But as Charles Barkley said after the game, Duke had skill, but Houston had will as the Blue Devils panicked with turnovers, missed free throws, and fouls of their own that allowed the Cougars to march all the way back and win 70-67 for one of the most shocking comebacks in NCAA Tournament history.
So, instead of a date with Duke, Florida has a date with Houston.
Initial odds have the Gators as a one-point favorite.