As the madness of the 2025 NCAA tournament comes to an end, only two No. 1 seeds remain standing. The Florida Gators and Houston Cougars will battle for the national championship on Monday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Both teams dispatched their opponents in the tournament with their own unique style. The Houston Cougars’ top-ranked defense has stifled opponents throughout the season. In the Final Four, the Cougars erased a 14-point deficit by holding the Duke Blue Devils to one field goal over the final ten minutes of the game. In contrast, the Florida Gators have engaged in high-flying affairs and outscored their opponents with the third-best offense in the nation. All-American point guard Walter Clayton Jr. scored 34 points against the Auburn Tigers to secure a victory in the Final Four and clinch Florida’s first title berth since 2007.
While the spotlight will be on Florida’s offense and Houston’s defense, the national championship game also carries a significant gap in experience between the opposing head coaches.
Todd Golden is looking to win the national title in his first NCAA tournament run
Gators head coach Todd Golden has never won a championship game. In fact, the sixth-year head coach had not won a single game in the NCAA tournament before this year.
If Florida wins, Golden would become only the fourth head coach since 1963 to win a national title without having any tournament wins in prior seasons. Loyola-Chicago’s George Ireland (1963), Michigan’s Steve Fisher (1989) and UConn’s Kevin Ollie (2014) are the only other coaches to accomplish the feat.
Golden made his NCAA tournament debut as the head coach of the San Francisco Dons in 2022, but his team was eliminated by the Murray State Racers in the first round. He led Florida to a tournament appearance last season, but the Gators suffered a loss against the Colorado Buffaloes in the opening round.
Meanwhile, Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson is hoping to become the oldest head coach in NCAA tournament history to win a national championship. The Cougars may have an advantage when it comes to coaching experience, but the championship game is new territory for both head coaches. Sampson has made 21 NCAA tournament appearances in his 32 years as head coach, but he never advanced to the title game despite making three Final Four appearances.