San Antonio, TX -- The first time these two teams will be meeting in any game since 1973 and it’s on the National Championship stage.

For Houston, at this point the mentality doesn’t change. Fighting, scrapping, clawing their way to victory is what they’ve done all season long. They believe doing the same on Monday night will get them a national title.

"End of the day it’s just about how bad you want it. I definitely want to make that history, but we got 40 minutes to play to get that done," said Houston Senior Guard L.J. Cryer. 

Much of the focus for both teams has been on Houston’s defense.

The Cougars are the number one defense in the nation. They held a star studded Duke Blue Devils to 67 points on in the Final Four on Saturday. The second lowest scoring total of the entire year for mighty Duke.

Florida knows all too well what kind of a challenge that will present for their high powered offense.

Florida senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. said “Honestly it’s tough to give a comp for them man, they’re one of a kind. Obviously with their defense, they’re number one defense in the country. They’re good at what they do, all on a string defensively.”