Both teams have been here before.
Florida, which is the first SEC team to reach the national championship game since Kentucky in 2014, makes its fourth appearance in the national championship game.
The Gators, who made their sixth Final Four (1994, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2025), are looking for their third national championship in program history (2006, 2007). They were national runners-up to Michigan State in 2000.
The Cougars are playing in their third national title game all-time, falling to North Carolina State (1983) and Georgetown (1984).
This past Saturday, Houston made its seventh appearance in the Final Four, which is the most of any team without a “natty.”
Florida, which is 15-1 all-time as a No. 1 seed, and Houston have identical records (35-4) heading into tonight’s national championship game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas (8:50 p.m. ET on CBS). There will be a National Championship Watch Party at the O’Connell Center.
They both had comeback victories on Saturday in the Final Four.
The Gators overcame an 8-point deficit at the half to beat No. 1 overall seed Auburn, 79-73, in the first national semifinal, and the Cougars battled back from a 14-point deficit with eight minutes to play, and a 9-point deficit with 2:06 remaining, to beat overall favorite Duke, 70-67, in the other semifinal.
Both teams have four starters who average in double figures.
They each allow just 6.7 3-point field goals per game and have a 1.4 assist-to-turnover ratio.
The Gators (No. 4 with +15.5) and Cougars (No. 5 with +15.4) are also top five in the country in scoring margin.
But that’s likely where you can draw the line of comparisons.
It’s the aggressor vs. the aggressive, the immovable object vs. the irresistible force.
The Gators have the No. 3 scoring offense in the country (85.3 points per game) behind Alabama and Gonzaga, which scored 85 (in overtime) and 76, respectively, this season against Houston.
They’ve scored 80 or more points 31 times this season.
The Cougars have the No. 1 scoring defense in the nation, allowing just 58.5 ppg.
Florida is shooting 36% from behind the arc, but Houston is allowing its opponent to shoot just 30% from 3-point range.
The Gators are averaging 36.8 ppg in the paint, but Houston is top five in Division-I allowing just 21.8 ppg inside.
The Orange and Blue are top five in D-I with 15.3 second-chance ppg, but the scarlet and white allow just 8.4 second-chance ppg.
Houston is 33-0 when holding teams to 70 points or less.
Florida will have to take care of the basketball against the Cougars’ aggressive defense.
“An area that has been a strength for us most of the year but has been an issue for us for the past couple of weeks is turning over the ball and I think tomorrow (today) that’s going to be a huge key,” Golden told ESPN’s Rece Davis, noting the 16 turnovers against Auburn. “That’s going to be a losing formula. If we turn it over that much, we will not win the game, so we’ve got to keep that number at 12 or below.”
Golden (39 years old) is trying to become the youngest head coach to win a national championship since NC State’s Jim Valvano, who won it at the age of 37 in 1983 against, ironically, Houston.
By the way, Golden was born in 1985.
Houston’s Kelvin Sampson (69) would become the oldest to ever win a men’s national championship if he leads Houston to its first trophy.
Sampson, who is in his 11th season with the Cougars, is one win from 800 victories all-time. In addition to his 800-win career total, Sampson would collect the 300th win of his Houston tenure.
Golden has 132 wins.
Sampson has 31 NCAA tournament wins in 36 seasons compared to Golden, who has five (all this season).
If the Gators are trailing the Cougars at any point tonight, they won’t panic.
Florida’s Final Four win was its eighth this season after trailing by nine points or more. UF bounced back from a 49-40 second-half deficit with an 11-0 run.
But if the game is on the line, is there anyone in America who you wouldn’t want the ball in his hands than Florida’s Walter Clayton, Jr.?
Mr. Clutch scored 20 of his 34 points in the second half. Clayton, who scored 30 points against Texas Tech in the Elite Eight, became the first player since the great Larry Bird (1979) to have back-to-back 30-point games in the Elite Eight and Final Four.
His 702 points this season have set the Florida single-season record. He is also the first Gator to score 100 or more points in a single NCAA Tournament (123).
Clayton, who has made a 3-pointer in a Florida-record 61 consecutive appearances, has three career 30-point games in the NCAA Tournament which is tied for the most in SEC history.
Tonight, he will face his toughest opposition of the year, but Clayton is braced for the Cougars’ ball-screen blitz barrage.
“Think Tennessee, but better,” said UF defensive coordinator John Andrzejek, whose team scored a season-low in a 64-44 loss at Tennessee on Feb. 1. “A lot better.”
It will be another physical, bruising battle with Houston.
Clayton (1,335 points all-time at UF), who needs seven points to pass former Gator Livingston Chapman (1,341 from 1987-1991) for 24th on the all-time career scoring leaders list, needed his career-best to beat Auburn.
He has led the Gators in scoring 20 times this season, but he may need some help if Florida is to win its first national title in almost two decades.