Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishA Final Four for the Ages in the AlamodomeFor the second time ever all four one seeds in the NCAA men’s tournament reached the Final Four in 2025. The Alamodome was host to both Contact Us | Refer-a-friend PromoThe Alamodome hosted the Final Four for the fifth time this weekend and for the first time UIW joined UTSA as host institution. (Photo by Stephen Whitaker)San Antonio hosted its fifth final four this weekend in the Alamodome and it was like a small recap of the previous times the city hosted the Final Four.Just like the 2018 Final Four, the national champion was a school that claimed its third national championship in its fourth appearance in a championship game and sixth Final Four. In 2018 it was Villanova cutting the nets in the Alamodome after winning it all in Houston in 2016 and Lexington, Kentucky in 1985. This year it was the Florida Gators who claimed their third championship after winning back-to-back in 2006 and 2007.There were similarities to the 2008 Final Four in that for just the second time ever all four number one seeds made the Final Four. Like the 2008 Final Four, the 2025 Final Four would see a Big 12 team reach the Championship game but while Kansas finished the job in 2008 Houston came up one play short in 2025.For Duke, it was like deja vu. The Blue Devils visited the Alamodome for the 2025 Final Four after taking part in the 2004 Final Four. Just like the 2004 Final Four this version of the Blue Devils was only in the Alamodome for one game. In 2004 they lost to the Connecticut Huskies who went on to beat Georgia Tech in the national championship game. The 2025 version of the Blue Devils looked close to reaching the championship game but lost to the Houston Cougars after the Cougars mounted a historic comeback to stun the Blue Devils.Houston itself would be on the wrong end of history on Monday night as it was unable to hold on to a 12-point lead in the second half against Florida. The Cougars had company in that stat. In the 1998 Championship Game played in the Alamodome Utah had a 12-point lead on Kentucky before the Kentucky Wildcats overcame the deficit to win their seventh national championship.The 1998 Final Four had another similarity to the 2025 Final Four. Both had a school making its second appearance in the Final Four. In 1998 it was the Stanford Cardinal who were in a Final Four for a second time and first time since winning the national championship in 1942. This year it was the Auburn Tigers who were making their first Final Four since falling to eventual national champion Virginia in the semifinal in 2019. Like the 1998 Cardinal, the 2025 Tigers fell in the national semifinal in the Alamodome to the eventual national champion.If the Alamodome gets to host a sixth Final Four it won’t be until the 2030s at the earliest as the Final Four has its sites decided through 2031. The city of San Antonio, the County of Bexar, and the host institutions of UTSA and UIW will do all they can to keep the Alamodome in the Final Four Conversation and the city has a lot going for it in terms of the proximity of the Alamodome to the Convention Center and hotels large enough to host the teams and fanbases of four different teams. Perhaps there will be a sixth Final Four in the Alamodome but if this year was its final time to be on the dance floor for the final dance of March Madness it went out with a bang.Click here for a FREE 30-day trial The flags of the four competitors in the Final Four were placed outside of the Alamo. By Sunday only two flags were left. (Photo by Stephen Whitaker)Another historic Final Four in the Alamodome leads to more history for the teams involvedFour teams journeyed to San Antonio last Wednesday to get acclimated to the area before Saturday’s Final Four semifinals in the Alamodome. All four teams came to town with one goal. They wanted to be the final team standing on Monday night.For Houston and Auburn, it was a feeling that fans of those schools had never experienced. Houston was in its seventh Final Four in program history and its first since 2021. The Cougars had yet to cut down the nets as national champions but were hoping that would change in the Alamodome. Auburn was in its second Final Four and first in six years. Auburn fell to Florida in the first semifinal 79-73 after leading for much of the game.Duke was the school with the most final Four appearances. This was the Blue Devils 18th appearance in the Final Four and they entered Saturday’s second semifinal against Houston looking to make the national championship game for the 12th time in program history in hopes of winning the sixth national championship in program history and first since 2015.For much of the national semifinal it appeared that Duke might just be playing against Florida on Monday night. The Blue Devils led by 14 points, 59-45, with 11:54 left in the second half but then went the final 10:30 of the game without making a field goal and Houston stormed back to stun the Blue Devils and win 70-67.That set up a Monday night in the Alamodome of two teams with identical 35-4 records in Houston and Florida. There was a lot on the line for both teams. Houston was in the National Championship game for the third time in program history but the first time since 1984 when a duel of the big men between Hakeem Olajuwon and Georgetown’s Patrick Ewing went in favor of Georgetown 84-75. That was the second of two national championship losses in a row for Houston which famously fell in an upset the year before to NC State led by Jim Valvano who was the youngest coach ever to win a national championship at 37 years old. Houston was also looking to give head coach Kelvin Sampson his 800th career win.Florida was in its fourth national championship game having won it all in 2006 and 2007 after losing in 2000. The Gators entered Monday looking to lift the trophy for a third time and allow head coach Todd Golden to become the youngest national champion coach since Valvano in 1983.For most of the night on Monday it appeared that the Cougars might be on their way to that first championship as well as a perfect 4-0 record as a school in sporting events hosted in the Alamodome. The Cougars led for more than 30 minutes of the game. Florida only led for one minute and three seconds but unfortunately for the Cougars the Gators led at the most important time of the game, when the clock struck zero. In the end it was Orange and Blue Confetti that fell from the center hung scoreboard as Florida celebrated and Houston was left once again as the worst feeling team in the country.Florida and Houston battled on Monday to lift the national champion trophy. In the end it was Florida that got hold of the trophy after beating Houston 65-63 (Photo by Stephen Whitaker)Florida gives Houston another painful Final Four momentOf all the teams who compete in men’s college basketball there is probably no program that is more snakebit than the Houston Cougars.Houston has made it to seven final fours, including 2025, and in every single Final Four, they have lost to the eventual national champion. They have the most Final Four appearances by any school that has not won a National Championship.In 1967 the Cougars made their first trip to the Final Four but ran into John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins in the national semifinal and lost 73-58 to UCLA. UCLA went on to beat Dayton in the championship game. Back then there was a third-place game in the Final Four and in 1967 Houston won the third place game over North Carolina.A year later in 1968, Houston was back in the Final Four and once again the bracket shook out in a way that they had to face UCLA in the national semifinals. Earlier that year Houston had beat UCLA in a regular season game in the Astrodome that snapped a 47-game winning streak for the Bruins. It was that game in the Astrodome that helped expand the popularity of College Basketball and was the birth of the games being played in large stadiums like the Alamodome. UCLA got their revenge in the Final Four in 1968 beating Houston 101-69 in the semifinal before winning their fourth championship in five years against North Carolina. Houston fell in the third-place game the next day to Ohio State, 89-85.It was 14 years before Houston returned to the Final Four. In 1982 the Cougars reached the Final Four but ran into a North Carolina team in the semifinals that had a freshman named Michael Jordan as well as James Worthy and Sam Perkins. Houston had the team that was known by the nickname Phi Slama Jama led by Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler but in the end North Carolina pulled out a 68-63 win before beating Georgetown for the championship.In 1983 Phi Slama Jama was back in the Final Four and this time they made it to the national championship game where they were favored to beat NC State. The Cougars came close but a last-second miss by NC State was put in by NC State’s Lorenzo Charles and the Cougars were stunned in a 54-52 loss.A year later in 1984, the Cougars were back in the championship game where they met the Georgetown Hoyas. This game pitted Hakeem Olajuwon against Patrick Ewing. Georgetown took the drama out early, leading by 10 at halftime before holding on to beat Houston 84-75. Those first five trips to the Final Four came when the Cougars were led by Guy V. Lewis. Lewis retired as coach after the 1986 season. After he retired the program went dormant. It wasn’t reborn until Kelvin Sampson was hired in 2014. In 2018 Sampson led Houston to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010. They’ve made it every season since and have made six straight sweet sixteens, the longest active streak in the country.Sampson got Houston back to the Final Four in 2021 but they lost in the national semifinals to eventual national champion Baylor. In 2025 the Cougars got to the national championship game but came up short losing 65-63 to Florida. Houston now has to hope they can finally get over the hump next year and become the first team to win a national championship a year after losing in the championship game since North Carolina in 2017. I was hoping the Cougars would win it on Monday night because my family has deep roots with the University of Houston. My dad is an alum as well as all three of his siblings. My grandfather helped start and taught in the electrical engineering department for decades. My grandmother was an alum of the university and had served as editor of the Daily Cougar in the early 40s. My grandparents were neighbors of Guy V. Lewis and as a kid growing up in the 90s, I would hear stories from family and Guy about the university. There was always pride in all of them for the university but also a tinge of pain that they had come so close in basketball but not won a national championship.I wanted to be in the Alamodome to see Houston win it for the sake of my family of Houston alums and be able to share that with them. In the end Monday was another reminder that it seems destiny that Houston will always be left so close to glory but having it ripped away in heartbreaking fashion.Someday Houston will win a national championship. Someday San Antonio will get to host another Final Four. Perhaps the stars will align and the next time San Antonio hosts Houston gets the job done. FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way
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