At the end of the finest final weekend of March Madness in memory, there will be many lasting sights and sounds. The Florida Gators are national champions. They'll have their dunks, triples and triumphs playing on repeat for the foreseeable future. As for me, I'll be here listening to the Spanish radio call of the final seconds of the game over and over.
Rafa HernƔndez-Brito and former Maryland star Greivis Vasquez were on the call for Westwood One on Monday night. With all due respect to the other television and radio broadcasters who lent their voices to those magic moments, HernƔndez-Brito topped them all.
You don't need to speak Spanish to enjoy this one. You'll know exactly what's happening as soon as you hear the "aye aye aye!" Then sit back and enjoy the rest.
"ššØš®š¬ššØš§, š²šØš® š”ššÆš š š©š«šØšš„šš¦!"#GoGators fans will absolutely love this Spanish final call at the Alamodome.
ā Westwood One Sports (@westwood1sports) April 8, 2025
š£ļø: @ElalcaldeRafa & @greivisvasquez pic.twitter.com/iKDtFKNt8W
"Houston you have a problem! Los Gators! Campeones!"
Put it in the Louvre.
The Spanish-language broadcast wasn't the only great call of the night, of course. Let's look at the rest.
CBS broadcast call of Florida championship win
Ian Eagle is a pro's pro and he showed it with his call of the final sequence for CBS.
"FLORIDA IS BACK ON TOP OF THE COLLEGE BASKETBALL WORLD! CHAMPIONSHIP MADNESS! IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE A GATOR! THEY WIN THE NATIONAL TITLE! Houston did not get a shot off. Florida 65, Houston 63. And it's heartbreak once again for the Houston Cougars." - Ian Eagle ššļø pic.twitter.com/uPwZfR2kI1
ā Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 8, 2025
National radio call of Florida national championship victory
Kevin Kugler handled the English-language broadcast for Westwood One. Here's what that sounded like:
"šš¹š¼šæš¶š±š® šš¼šš»š± š® šŖš®š!" š ššµ
ā Westwood One Sports (@westwood1sports) April 8, 2025
Hear the final seconds as @GatorsMBK held defensively and claimed their third Men's Basketball #NationalChampionship with a 65-63 win over Houston.
š£ļø: @kevinkugler #GoGators | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/DQMqqoskRn
"From 12 down to the school's third national championship in men's basketball," is a pretty great way to sum it all up.
The Gators and Cougars put on a show. It wasn't always pretty, but it was certainly thrilling. For a minute there in the second half it looked like Houston would run away with it. Florida made sure that wouldn't happen by erasing the 12-point deficit and ensuring a dramatic final minute of play.
Alijah Martin's free throws with 46 seconds remaining put the Gators ahead. Denzel Aberdeen gave his team a three-point lead with 19 seconds remaining. In the end, the Florida defense made all the difference in the final two minutes. Houston scored their last points with 2:05 remaining.
As they say, defense wins championships.