Men's College Basketball

The Florida Gators are kings of men's college basketball after Monday's victory over Houston in the national championship game, but next season's early betting odds suggest their reign won't last long.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Duke is the favorite to cut down the nets next season at +1,000 (bet $100 to win $1,000). The Blue Devils are followed by Houston (+1,200), UConn (+1,400), BYU (+1,600), Purdue (+1,800) and St. John's (+1,800).

The Gators check in at +2,500, which is tied for 12th on the list.

Duke reached the Final Four this season and seemed poised to qualify for Monday's national title game when it built a 67-61 lead over Houston heading into the final minute of Saturday's showdown.

However, the Cougars closed on a 9-0 run in that last minute to clinch a shocking victory thanks in large part to their pressure defense that overwhelmed the Blue Devils in the final moments.

It will likely take the program some time to get over the loss, but it can at least take solace knowing it is expected to be excellent again in 2025-26 even if Cooper Flagg heads to the NBA as the likely No. 1 overall pick.

It certainly helps that head coach Jon Scheyer is bringing in the top-rated recruiting class in the country, per 247Sports' composite rankings. That group is headlined by Cameron and Cayden Boozer, who are the sons of former NBA player Carlos Boozer, as well as Shelton Henderson.

But the Cougars aren't far behind the Blue Devils with the No. 2 recruiting class in the country as they look to build momentum from their seventh Final Four in program history.

Unfortunately for Houston, it has been unable to turn any of those Final Four appearances into a national title. It seemed like it finally would Monday with a double-digit lead in the second half against the Gators, but it couldn't close the door on the win.

Perhaps next season will be the year Houston finally cuts down the nets as national champions.

As for Florida, it will surely celebrate its third title in program history throughout the offseason. Next season may not be as promising with Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard and Alijah Martin all leaving and Alex Condon facing an NBA decision, but head coach Todd Golden has found success in the transfer portal before and could look to do so again this offseason.

If he does, those championship odds may change.

Florida head coach Todd Golden praised his team for "guarding our butts off" in a gritty effort against Houston, rallying from a 12-point deficit to capture the 2025 National Championship.

“We did what we did all year. We stayed our course. We had the best backcourt in America, they had the best frontcourt in America. And like we’ve done all year, we made plays when we needed them the most," Golden told CBS Sports' Tracy Wolfson after the win. "We guarded our butts off down the stretch and made every 50-50 winning play.”

"The Gators are Natty, baby! We got the Natty, baby! We got the Natty! Let's go!"

he Houston Cougars led Florida 31-28 at halftime before catching fire early in the second half, building a 12-point lead with 16:24 remaining.

But an 8-0 run quickly brought the Gators back and they tied the game at 51 with just over seven minutes to play. From there, Florida clamped down defensively while Houston's offense stalled, allowing the Gators to take control and seal the victory.

Florida’s Will Richard led the way for the Gators with 18 points and eight rebounds, while forward Alex Condon chipped in 12 points and Walter Clayton Jr. added 11.

In just three short seasons, Golden not only became the second coach in Florida history to win a national title, but also the youngest to cut down the championship nets since Jim Valvano, who led NC State to glory in 1983.

After capping off an outstanding March Madness run with a 65-63 win over Houston in the national championship game on Monday, Florida's Walter Clayton Jr. was named the 2025 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player.

Clayton, who started his career at Iona but spent his final two seasons with the Gators, averaged 22.3 points, 3.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds across six tournament games.

Clayton has been outstanding all year, averaging 18.5 points per game on his way to being named a Naismith Player of the Year Finalist. In the tournament, he hit another level. He posted 23 points in both the Round of 64 and Round of 32 before putting up 30 points against Texas Tech in the Elite Eight and 34 points against Auburn in the Final Four.

On Monday, Houston came in with a clear plan of shutting down Clayton, and it worked for much of the game. But even though Clayton wasn't finding the basket as much, scoring just 11 points, he found other ways to contribute, like dishing out seven assists.

"We've been saying it all year, our motto is 'We all can go," Clayton said. "We've got a team full of guys that can go, it ain't just about me. We got multiple guys that can go get a bucket and do anything, so my team held me down until I was able to put the ball in the basket, so shoutout to them boys."

Clayton's journey to stardom has been anything but easy.

Coming out of high school, he received more interest as a football player, landing offers from top programs like Georgia, Tennessee and Florida, per 247Sports. He had far fewer offers for basketball, but ultimately decided to stick with hoops and joined Iona.

After two years playing for Rick Pitino with the Gaels, he hit the transfer portal and returned to his home state to join the Gators ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Now, after leading Florida to its third championship in program history, Clayton's name is in the history books forever.

The Florida Gators are back on top of the men's college basketball world.

Florida defeated Houston 65-63 in thrilling fashion in Monday's national championship game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. It is the program's third title and first since it went back-to-back in 2006 and 2007.

Houston led for much of the game and had an opportunity to win it on the final possession, but Emanuel Sharp turned the ball over in a stunning development. It looked like he was going up for a three-pointer but never released a shot, which left the ball bouncing and him unable to touch it without traveling.

That clinched the comeback win for the Gators and left Houston painfully close once again in its seventh Final Four in program history. Despite all those Final Four appearances, it is yet to cut down the nets as national champions.

Monday ultimately belonged to the Gators, with Will Richard leading the way with 18 points and eight rebounds and Walter Clayton Jr. overcoming a poor start to add 11 points, seven assists and five boards.

Social media had plenty of reaction to the team's championship:

Both teams were surely confident coming into Monday's game given their impressive comebacks in the Final Four. Houston shocked Duke with a dramatic run in the final minute of their game, while Florida controlled the second half after initially falling behind against Auburn.

But it was the Cougars who established the early momentum.

Their suffocating defense set the tone by cutting off driving lanes, swarming into passing windows, forcing Clayton into contested low-percentage looks and forcing nine turnovers in the first half alone. They converted some of those turnovers into transition opportunities and seemed to rattle the Gators as the opening half took on a frantic feel.

Yet Florida found itself down just three at intermission even though Clayton didn't have a single point and the offense as a whole was largely discombobulated. Richard's outside shooting kept the SEC representative well within striking distance and was about the only thing that worked for the first 20 minutes.

The small margin despite playing so poorly suggested the Gators were in position to bounce back in the second half, but the Cougars had other ideas as they expanded the advantage to double digits behind L.J. Cryer's outside shooting and more of the same dominant defense.

Still, much of the second half took on the same theme as the first. Every time it seemed like Houston was in complete control with Clayton's shooting woes and its stifling defense, Florida would answer to build some momentum of its own.

Clayton finally scored his first field goal with under eight minutes remaining with an and-1 to tie the game and swing the pressure to the Cougars. And they responded to that pressure with a deep Sharp three and Ja'Vier Francis' tip slam to answer and retake the lead.

The back-and-forth continued with Clayton tying the game with a triple and then Alijah Martin giving the Gators the lead on the free-throw line in the final minute.

It was their first lead since early in the first half, but that was all they needed as the defense put the finishing touches on the win by forcing two turnovers in that last minute.

It was an ending that will haunt Houston for as long as it will be celebrated in Florida.

SAN ANTONIO — The narrative set a towering bar.

For the second time in men's NCAA tournament history, four No. 1 seeds reached the last weekend. Compared to that 2008 group, this 2025 quartet of Auburn, Duke, Florida and Houston made it the deepest Final Four ever.

On paper, at least.

That description is easy for sportswriters to suggest, a painless idea for fans to accept. The danger in embracing the hype is the possibility of a letdown.

During these memorable two nights in the Alamodome, however, the star-studded, power-packed field delivered in every way.

The headliner, of course, is Florida's triumph over Houston. Yet again, the Gators put together a second-half surge to overcome a 12-point deficit on Monday, earning the program's third national championship in a 65-63 victory.

But it all started with UF's first win.

Saturday night, the Gators met SEC rival Auburn—coached by Bruce Pearl, who once hired UF coach Todd Golden to his AU staff in 2014. The familiar matchup, both on the court and sideline, produced a spectacular game.

All-American guard Walter Clayton Jr. assembled his finest performance of a brilliant March Madness run.

Later crowned the Most Outstanding Player in the 2025 tournament, he scorched Auburn for 34 points while propelling the Gators out of a nine-point hole in the second half for a 79-73 victory.

Saturday's encore, incredibly, was better.

Duke roared out to a 14-point advantage on Houston as the clock dipped below 12 minutes left in regulation. Led by presumed No. 1 NBA draft pick Cooper Flagg, the talent-rich Blue Devils were on the brink of playing for a title.

Slowly, steadily, a veteran-heavy Houston squad chipped away at Duke's lead. The relentless defense held the freshman-laden Blue Devils to just two buckets in those 12 minutes, setting up a remarkable 9-0 run during the last 35 seconds to eliminate the championship favorite in a stunning 70-67 result.

The memorable moment, for better or worse, is tied to Flagg.

After his controversial foul, the superstar forward—soon named the National Player of the Year—had a shot at redemption. Given his NBA projection, this was the kind of moment that would live on highlight reels forever.

But it came up short.

Houston survived the Blue Devils' desperation heave at the buzzer, advancing to the championship game in its home state.

Yet the finale even further surpassed the encore.

This time around, Houston raced to an early lead. In the second half, the Coogs extended that margin to 12 points. If they could navigate the last 16 minutes, the program would celebrate its first-ever national title.

Florida, once again, refused to die.

All tournament long, the Gators were a second-half team. They clawed back against Connecticut in the second round, ran away from Maryland in the Sweet 16, stunned Texas Tech in the Elite Eight, recovered to beat Auburn in the Final Four and stormed past Houston to win a title.

The supporting cast played a leading role for Florida on Monday, but Clayton still continuously came up clutch. In the closing eight minutes, he evened the score on three occasions with two and-ones and a triple.

Ultimately, stingy defense and two late free throws apiece from Will Richard and Alijah Martin—the other two members of the best backcourt in the country—sealed the Gators' jubilant win.

We could not have asked for more.

Sure, you might've wanted a certain result that didn't happen. You may have preferred the storyline of Auburn or Houston winning a first-ever championship or Duke's freshmen achieving the pinnacle in their lone college year.

Through the game-to-game entertainment lens, however, this Final Four matched and surpassed its enormous expectations.

Every matchup was dramatic to the closing minute, and the nerves only increased as the tournament progressed. There were three fantastic games, two amazing comebacks and one brilliant championship.

San Antonio took the strongest-ever group of teams and provided one of the best Final Fours in the sport's history.

Good luck living up to this bar in 2026, Indianapolis.