On the 7th of April, Todd Golden’s Florida Gators defeated the Houston Cougars in the NCAA tournament final. The two teams made up half of the all-one-seed quartet that competed in the final four. This was only the second time in March Madness history that all final four teams were No. 1 seeds. Florida played the overall No. 1 seed, the Auburn Tigers, who had both the Sporting News National College Player of the Year – Johni Broome – and Associated Press Coach of the Year – Bruce Pearl – as well as freshman talent Tahaad Pettiford. Meanwhile, the Houston Cougars played national favorites, the Duke Blue Devils. One quarter of all March Madness brackets predicted Duke as champions over the 67 other teams in the tournament. Duke featured freshman sensation Cooper Flagg on the team, who won Naismith Men's College Player of the Year, Wooden Award, Associated Press Player of the Year, and is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Flagg was backed up by freshmen stars Kon Kneuppel and Khaman Maluach, led by legendary Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s protégé, Coach Jon Scheyer.
Florida starters in NCAA Tournament Championship:
Alex Condon, forward, So.
Rueben Chinyelu, center, So.
Will Richard, guard, Sr.
Walter Clayton Jr., guard, Sr.
Alijah Martin, guard, 5th yr Sr.
Houston starters in NCAA Tournament Championship:
Joseph Tugler, forward, So.
J’Wan Roberts, forward, 5th yr Sr.
Milos Uzan, guard, Jr.
Emanuel Sharp, guard, Jr.
LJ Cryer, guard, 5th yr Sr.
According to the 24.4 million brackets, the Houston Cougars were the least likely of the four semi-finalists to make it to the final, and the least likely to win the national title. Only 8.9% of fans predicted a Houston victory. This compares to the 21.3% who selected Florida — over 3 million people more than Houston. Throughout the tournament, Florida had higher estimated chances of winning games in each round than Houston did.
However, when it came to coaching experience, Houston held a clear edge. Coach Kelvin Sampson entered the tournament with 45 years of coaching experience, including six years in the NBA. He has led his team to the Final Four two times prior (once with Oklahoma, once with Houston), and has been with the Houston Cougars for 11 years. Being the fourth-oldest coach in NCAA Division I basketball and having received countless awards for his coaching, Sampson was a difficult opponent for Todd Golden to face in his first-ever NCAA final. In fact, this year’s March Madness was the first time Todd Golden and his team had appeared past the round of 64. The 30-year age difference between the coaches received mixed analyses. Many older generations of fans and coaches were rooting for a Houston win. 76-year-old Gregg Popovich, legendary San Antonio Spurs coach, expressed his support for Sampson, as did Tom Izzo and Rick Barnes, the 70-year-old coaches of eliminated teams Michigan State and Tennessee. Many recognized Sampson’s approach of favouring experienced players, with two fifth-year seniors starting for the team, and three out of the five players having spent their entire college careers with the Cougars.
Golden, born four years after Sampson’s first college win, has introduced a new era of analytics and recruiting into the NCAA. He and his assistant coach, Jonathan Safir, have developed a new way to beat the opponent. They analyze everything down to how often each opposing player goes left or right when taking the ball up. Florida’s players have expressed their appreciation for the technique; “the coaches do a great job of keeping it on the basketball level for us…they keep the analytics to themselves [and] help us to just make the right reads and stuff like that,” senior Will Richard said. Approach aside, the teams had almost opposite strengths. Houston was the strongest defensive team this season, while Florida was second in offence. A competitive matchup, the game could have gone either way.
At the final, Houston won the jump ball, and Joseph Tugler opened the game with a shot from the paint. A minute later, Alex Condon put Florida on the board with a dunk. After a back and forth for six minutes, culminating in a dunk over Florida’s Thomas Hough by Javier Francis, Houston jumped off to a comfortable lead for the rest of the 1st half, and kept it for the first 12 minutes of the 2nd half. The Gators’ star, Walter Clayton Jr., was absent from the scoreboard. Will Richard filled Clayton Jr.’s usual leading scorer position with 14 points in the first half — half of Florida’s first-half points. The half ended with an assist from Clayton Jr. for a dunk by Condon, which only cut the Houston lead from 12 to 10. J’Wan Roberts spoke to CBS Sports during halftime, saying “[we] gotta fight. It ain’t gonna be easy, it’s gonna be a game of runs.” With Houston keeping up their strong defensive strategy, Florida came into the second half with a new energy. In one of the game’s best plays, Florida’s Thomas Hough blocked a potential 3-pointer from LJ Cryer. The ball was taken by Will Richard, who fed it back to Hough, who finished with an and-one layup. Then, finally, twelve minutes into the second half, Walter Clayton Jr. emerged from the scoring shadows, driving through Houston's defense for a layup, and getting fouled by J’Wan Roberts in the process. In an almost storybook moment, Clayton Jr.’s first point tied the game.
After another back-and-forth stretch, Alijah Martin gave the Gators their first lead since the opening five minutes by sinking two free throws. On the next possession, Emanuel Sharp turned the ball over almost immediately — Houston had lost their touch. Milos Uzan quickly fouled Denzel Aberdeen, whose free led to the final point of the game. With 19.7 seconds to go, Houston had the ball. Unable to break through Florida’s defense, the ball found Sharp in desperation. He seemed to have an open shot, but committed a travel as Clayton Jr. closed in. In the confusion, Alex Condon got to the ball, ending the game in a tragic twist for the Houston Cougars, and a redeeming victory for the Florida Gators.
“We did what we did all year: we stayed the course,” Todd Golden said in response to questions about the Houston lead. He also reflected on the achievements of his staff and analytics team, who were behind recruiting such a well rounded team. The young coach also recognized his players, calling them “one of the most talented groups individually in America.” He believes that their defensive plays are what won Florida the game. While the turnovers and mistakes made by the Gators were “uncharacteristic,” Golden credits their recovery to stronger defense, and consistent free throws. A recovery that will be remembered for years to come, a team that has strengthened Florida’s legacy, and a coach who brought a great team back from a stint of mediocrity, — we witnessed the Gators in their Golden Age.
