On April 7th, 2025 the Florida Gators men’s basketball team defeated the Houston Cougars, 65-63, to win their third college basketball national championship.
The Gators have had a rocky ride throughout the season, losing to Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and Georgia during the regular season. The Gators were able to cruise through the SEC tournament, with dominating performances over Missouri, Alabama, and Tennessee, to capture their fifth Southeastern Conference title. Florida went into the NCAA tournament positioned at the number one seed, and many had high expectations for this Florida team, as they were one of the favorites to win the National Championship. They started the tournament off by whooping Norfolk State 95-69, they then barely escaped a tight game against two-time defending champion Connecticut, 77-75. In the sweet sixteen, Florida rolled through Maryland, to advance to the elite eight against Texas Tech. Texas Tech had a nine point lead with 2:53 left in the game, but a couple of three pointers and foul shots later, and Florida won 84-79. Florida was also behind at several points in their Final Four game against Auburn, but eventually pulled away to win 79-73.
Houston was Florida’s opponent in the National Championship game, also a one seed going into the tournament. Houston lost to Auburn, Alabama, and San Diego State, at the beginning of the year, but they came out of their shell when it got to conference play, winning 19 of 20 Big 12 conference games. Houston easily beat Colorado, BYU, and Arizona to win the Big 12, and started off the tournament with a bang, they walloped SIU Edwardsville 78-40. They survived games against Gonzaga and Purdue, and went on to destroy Tennessee in the Elite Eight to make their seventh Final Four appearance. Their opponent Duke was heavily favored to beat them, and they very well might have done so had it not been for an incredible collapse put on by Duke, where they blew a seven point lead with 1:30 to go in the game.
This set up the 2025 National Championship game number one Florida, versus number one Houston Florida was looking for their third title, and Houston was on the hunt for their very first. Florida had a turbulent first half being down eight before coming back to tighten the score at halftime 31-28 Houston. The beginning of the second half would become a disaster for Florida as Houston dominated to make a 12 point deficit at 16:24 giving Houston had a 93.9 percent win probability. The game kept trending in Houston’s direction until Florida made an unbelievable comeback to tie the score 48-48 with only 7:54 remaining. Both teams kept up good scoring, keeping it close until the very end. Multiple penalties and made free throws put Florida in the lead 65-63 and gave Houston only 19 seconds to score a basket to tie or win the game. Good defense got the best of Houston, not even allowing them to shoot a shot before the buzzer beeped.
