For the first time in 11 years, the Gators (34-4) are back in the Final Four.

Top seed Florida survived and advanced on Saturday night in the Elite Eight, overcoming a nine-point deficit with less than three minutes to play in an 84-79 win against No. 3 seed Texas Tech in the NCAA West Region title game.

Walter Clayton’s 30 points led the Gators, while 6’9 sophomore forward Thomas Haugh added 20 points and 11 rebounds.

“At the end of the day, great teams are as good as their players lead them,” said Florida coach Todd Golden, who is the third coach to lead the Gators to a Final Four, joining Billy Donovan (four) and Lon Kruger (one). “Walter has done a great job all year that way. And Tommy played his tail off for us across every game this season.”

The Gators closed with an 18-4 run to advance to the program’s sixth Final Four (1994, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2014 and 2025).

“It’s crazy,” said Haugh, who helped start the run with back-to-back 3-pointers. “I feel like I’m dreaming. I was watching the round of 64 in the eighth grade sneaking my phone into science class watching it. Now to say I’m playing in the Final Four is wild. It’s wild.”

According to ESPN analytics, Texas Tech had a 95.6% chance of winning when they led 75-66 with 2:59 remaining.

“We all kept telling each other to stay together, stay the course,” Clayton said. “There’s a lot of time left on the clock. Keep on playing to the final buzzer. Don’t break during adversity.”

It’s been a March to remember for Florida, which won seven top-25 games in the month alone. The Gators extended their single-season record with their 10th top 25 win, eight of which have come vs. teams in the top 12.

Florida has only had seven top 25 wins in a whole season two other times (eight in 2006-07, seven in 1999-2000) and had never previously had more than four in a month (February 2001).

For the first time since 2008, all No. 1 seeds advanced to this weekend’s Final Four, which will take place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Higher-seeded teams went 12-0 in regional semifinals and regional finals for the first time since the tournament expanded in 1985.

It was a sign of things to come after no team seeded No. 11 or higher had advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007.

On Saturday, top seed Duke advanced to its 18th Final Four with an 85-65 win against No. 2 seed Alabama in the East Region Final and No. 1 seed Houston eliminated Tennessee, 69-50, on Sunday in the Midwest Region title game to advance to its seventh Final Four.

Duke (35-3) will play Houston (34-4) at 8:49 p.m. on Saturday in the Alamodome in San Antonio Texas in the second game of the Final Four.

Houston is the sixth team in the last 50 years to play in a Final Four in their home state.

Auburn defeated Michigan State, 70-64, in the South Region Final on Sunday behind SEC Player of the Year Johni Broome’s 25 points and 14 rebounds, handing Spartans’ coach Tom Izzo his first loss to an SEC school in the NCAA tournament.

That sets up an All-SEC semifinal between Auburn and Florida at 6:09 p.m. on Saturday.

Once again, it’s the teacher vs. the pupil as Golden spent two seasons under Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl.

Golden joined the Auburn staff as the director of basketball operations for the 2014-15 season and was elevated to an assistant coaching position for the 2015-16 campaign.

It’s the 12th Final Four matchup all time between teams from the same conference but a first between two SEC teams.

However, this is the fifth time that the SEC has had multiple teams in the men’s Final Four (1994 – national champion Arkansas and 3-seed Florida; 1996 – national champion Kentucky and 5-seed Mississippi State; 2006 – national champion Florida and 4-seed LSU; 2014 – No. 1 seed Florida and No. 8 seed Kentucky).

Florida defeated Auburn on the road, 90-81, on Feb. 8 without Alijah Martin to end Auburn’s 14-game winning streak.

“I mean, Florida has a great team,” said Auburn’s 6’7 senior forward Chaney Johnson. “They were good enough to beat us at home, so we’ve just got to go game by game. It’s another team in the way of us getting to the National Championship, so we’ve just got to continue putting our head down, continue staying humble, continue staying hungry. Just go out there and play with great effort and great energy.”

According to The Sporting News basketball columnist Mike DeCourcy, Duke is ranked the best team of the four, followed by Florida.

However, ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg likes Auburn.

“They kicked the crap out of Auburn, absolutely,” he said. “Auburn could not get a stop. But this Auburn team is a little bit different. Florida has kind of been living on the edge. If Walter Clayton doesn’t happen in the Connecticut game, if Walter Clayton doesn’t happen against Texas Tech, Florida’s not there. Where I think Auburn is starting to gain a little momentum, they’re getting back to their identity. This Florida team is dynamic offensively, got great versatility, but to me Auburn is playing their basketball in the last month. Auburn is going to be tricky to get out of.”

It will take a complete game effort by the Gators, like the first meeting against the Tigers (32-5), to get to Monday’s title game.