Florida rallies from a 12-point deficit to win the NCAA men’s basketball championship, leaving the Cougars just shy of their first title.

What was the Houston vs Florida score? College basketball NCAA Tournament March Madness national championship game score, recap for Gators vs Cougars.

Monday's national title bout between Florida and Houston drew 18.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched title game since 2019. The game peaked at 21.1 million viewers and was up 22 percent from last year. The Final Four itself also saw an increase in viewership from recent years, averaging 16.4 million viewers across the three games.

Florida is expected to enter the 2025-26 campaign as the second-best team in the nation according to The Athletic's way-too-early rankings.

In the end, college basketball always delivers. Surely this past weekend was proof, with its incessant nail-biting Final Four, starting with Florida’s 79-73 upset of overall No. 1 seed Auburn, then Houston’s furious rally to shock Duke 70-67,

UF coach Todd Golden is due a sizable pay increase as he tackles the offseason to build on the Gators’ national championship success.

Madness is now over. The Florida Gators beat Houston to win the men's NCAA championship game, while UConn defeated South Carolina to take the women's championship. And while

The Florida Gators earned all 61 first-place votes in the final AP Top 25 Poll of the season after winning the NCAA Tournament.

Florida's national title run proved the transfer portal and NIL can spark instant success—mirroring NBA free agency and redefining how college teams are built overnight.