Joe Lunardi 'Leaning' Cooper Flagg, Duke vs. Florida for March Madness 2025 Final

As the start of the 2025 NCAA tournament draws nearer, one expert believes the top two contenders for the national championship have already emerged.

ESPN's Joe Lunardi revealed on Monday that he's "been leaning toward a Florida-Duke final in the NCAA tournament."

At 28-3, Duke is in the running to be the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament this year. The Blue Devils extended their win streak to eight straight games with Saturday's 82-69 win over rival UNC. Star freshman Cooper Flagg has proven to be one of the best players in the nation and leads the team with averages of 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.

Florida isn't too far behind Duke at 27-4, but it will need a strong showing in the SEC tournament if it hopes to get a favorable draw in March Madness. Lunardi had high praise for the Gators, but he stopped short of predicting that they would win a conference tournament championship.

"The Gators, to me, are the most balanced team in the country," Lunardi stated. "I think they would win a best-of-seven series against every team in the SEC. However, we all know there is no such thing in college basketball."

Despite giving Tennessee and Auburn a better shot to win the SEC tournament, Lunardi added that he still believes Florida is built to make it a run to the national title game.

"So I'm going with Tennessee in its home state, with an upset of Auburn in the semifinals. I like the Vols' defense to power them through the grind of three games in three days," Lunardi wrote. "What will that mean for the NCAA tournament? Absolutely nothing…"