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Todd Golden cuts down nets after Florida wins 2025 NCAA National Championship

Wade-Peeryby:Wade Peery•04/07/25
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© Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Todd Golden and the top-seeded Florida Gators are the national champions of the 2024-2025 college basketball season. The Gators used some stingy defense in the final seconds, ensuring Houston couldn’t get a shot off as time expired. And Florida prevailed 65-63 in a game that was extremely well played in the final 10 minutes of the second half.

Here’s the video of Todd Golden climbing the ladder and celebrating the moment. Florida became the only school in the country to have three national championships in football and basketball.

Following the big win, Golden spoke with Tracy Wolfson of CBS on the court. The Gators were down by 12 points at one point. Despite the adversity, the Florida head coach never wavered in his team’s ability to pull out the big win.

“We did what we did all year. We stayed the course. We have the best backcourt in America. I think we have the best front court in America. And like we’ve done all year, we made plays when we needed them most,” Golden explained.

“We guarded our butts off down the stretch! Made every 50-50 winning play. The Gators are natty baby! We got the natty baby! Let’s goooo!” Golden screamed in jubilation.

Florida captured the school’s first men’s basketball national championship since 2007. And the team has every right to celebrate into the late hours of the morning on Monday night. Clearly, the future is bright for the Gators and their head coach. Todd Golden became the youngest head coach to win the men’s national title since Jim Valvano did it in 1983.

Claiming the national championship in basketball is never easy, especially in a season like this one when there were so many great teams. And the 2025 NCAA Tournament saw some absolute classics. Florida got great performances from multiple players in the win on Monday.

Big man Alex Condon had 12 points, seven rebounds, and four steals in 28 minutes. Will Richard stepped up in the biggest of ways, carrying the Gator offensive attack in the first half. Richard scored 14 of Florida’s 28 points in the first half. He finished with 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Walter Clayton, Jr. was named Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four. He didn’t have his best stuff on Monday evening, but he made some big plays when his team needed them. Clayton finished with 11 points, five rebounds, and seven assists.

The Houston defense did an exceptional job on him, making life extremely difficult for him much of the night. The Cougars battled valiantly and delivered college basketball fans an excellent game on the biggest of stages. While they came up just short, there’s plenty for them to be proud of in an absolutely spectacular season.

Houston got 19 points from LJ Cryer. He was their leading scorer and by a significant margin. He had 19 points, six rebounds, two assists, and a block. Big man J’Wan Roberts finished with eight points and eight rebounds in the loss.

The national championship caps off what was an absolutely magical season for the Florida Gators. They finish with a 35-4 overall record, an SEC Tournament Championship, and a national championship. They only had four losses all season long: Kentucky (106-100), Missouri (83-82), Tennessee (64-44), and Georgia (88-83).