Florida Gators Win 2025 NCAA Championship in Thrilling Finish

Maryann Corrozzo '26

The NCAA is an organization in the United States that administers intercollegiate athletics. The NCAA has a Division I tournament. There are 68 teams that participate in the NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one teams automatically qualify by winning their respective conference championships. The other 37 teams are selected by the NCAA selection committee as at-large bids. Teams battle to make it to the final game, which is the championship. This year, 2025, the winners were the University of Florida Gators.

The two teams that made it to the final game were the Florida Gators and the Houston Cougars. The game took place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on April 7. The game was very close, but the Gators won with a score of 65 to 63.

The leading scorers for Florida were Will Richard with 18 points, Alex Condon with 12 points, and Walter Clayton Jr. with 11 points. The leading scorers for Houston were L.J. Cryer with 19 points, Mylik Wilson with 9 points, and Emanuel Sharp with 8 points.

Florida’s outstanding performance and Houston’s inability to score in the final seconds secured the win for the Gators. Houston went for a three-pointer that would have been big for them, but they missed the shot, costing them the game. Clayton had many strong plays that earned him the Most Outstanding Player award.

This final game had the audience on their toes and filled with excitement!