Florida puts bow on SEC dominance, claims third national championship

The strongest conference in the history of college basketball has claimed the national championship, Florida taking down Houston by a final score of 65-63 to win the program’s third title — and the first since 2007.

Just as the Gators have done all postseason, they turned a double-digit second-half deficit into a win down the stretch, Alijah Martin hitting the go-ahead free throws in the final minute to seal the deal. Down by 12 with 16:24 on the clock, Florida went on a 12-3 run over four minutes to make it a one-score game and turn it into a back-and-forth the rest of the way, six being the largest lead at any point in the final 12:06.It

It wasn’t the prettiest offensive display, both teams shooting worse than 40 percent from the field and 25 percent from three, but Will Richard did enough to lead the way with 18 points and eight rebounds for the Gators. Alex Condon added 12 points, followed by Walter Clayton Jr. — who started out ice-cold before coming up big late — with 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds.

For the Cougars, it was L.J. Cryer leading the way with 19 points on 6-18 shooting and 4-11 from three — the only player in double figures. They would shoot just 34.8 percent from the field and 24.0 percent from deep.

Todd Golden leads the Gators to their third national championship ever and the first since they went back-to-back under Billy Donovan in 2006 and 2007. 2000 is the only other year UF has been a participant in the national title game.

The most complete team in college basketball entering the postseason finished the job.

“It’s a heck of an accomplishment,” Golden said. “I’m super proud of everybody in my program, top to bottom. My staff, been together for three years, worked incredibly hard to help get our players to this point. Our players, they’ve been the difference all the way along. Been incredibly consistent all year. Have worked with a great work ethic. Obviously we have an incredibly talented group, one of the most talented groups individually in America.

“I do think what separates us and has separated us all season long is our team talent, how our guys have played together and for each other all year. Because of that, we can call each other national champions for the rest of our lives.”

As a friendly reminder, though, Kentucky was the first program to hand Florida a loss this season in what was an instant classic inside Rupp Arena to open SEC play.

Time for Mark Pope and the Wildcats to take their place atop the college basketball world in 2025-26. They’re certainly building a roster to do it.

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