It was a historic season for the Southeastern Conference on the basketball court, and thanks to the Florida Gators it has been capped off the right way.
On Monday night, Florida won an instant classic national championship game 65-63 over the Houston Cougars to deliver the SEC its first men’s basketball title since the Kentucky Wildcats last cut down the nets in 2012.
Entering Walter Clayton Jr. time… pic.twitter.com/ttogcZ7jTZ
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 8, 2025
“FLORIDA IS BACK ON TOP OF THE COLLEGE BASKETBALL WORLD!” pic.twitter.com/IeLecOAcSb
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 8, 2025
It’s also the third in the history of the Gators program after they won back-to-back championships in 2006 and 2007. It took a comeback effort for Florida as it did against the Auburn Tigers, trailing by 12 points in the second half after coming back from down eight against the Tigers at half.
As for the SEC, it seemed inevitable for a team from the conference to cut down the nets.
The conference blew the previous record out of the water with 14 of their 16 teams making the NCAA Tournament field, though they also proved it when they got there.
Sending seven teams to the Sweet Sixteen was also a new tournament record along with tying the record for the next round as well by sending four teams to the Elite Eight.
Though the way things shook out prevented a chance at an all-SEC national championship matchup, the Final Four showdown between the eventual champs and Auburn was one of the best showcases of talent in the entire tournament.
Having been at the center of the college football landscape already, it appears the best conference in collegiate athletics has taken over on the basketball court as well.
Don’t count on it going anywhere anytime soon.
