The Florida Gators men’s basketball team defeated Houston in the 2025 National Championship Monday night, and fans waited excitedly in Flavet Field for their triumphant return to Gainesville.
UF was cast into pandemonium after Florida secured a 65-63 win. The streets surrounding the university flooded with rambunctious Gator fans who knew they were part of an unforgettable night. The sea of orange and blue on University Avenue took hours to subside, as fans found their way home and prepared to carry the celebration into the next day — this time with the team.
As 22-year-old UF mechanical and aerospace engineering senior Giovanni Franco sees it, he doesn’t believe the Gators could’ve picked up a more meaningful win. Franco, who became a Gator fan four years ago after arriving in Gainesville, said Florida’s championship was the cherry on top to the end of his time as a Gator.
“It means everything. A lot of these guys, I've seen them since they’ve come here,” Franco said. “I’ve been a really big Gator fan: Rowdy Reptile every year at the stadiums, camping out, I’ve done it all.”
However, the win wasn’t pretty, and Franco said he couldn’t watch the final play of the game in real time. Watching in the Stephen C. O’Connell center, he turned his back to the screen and let the roar of the crowd tell him all he needed to know.
“I turn around, I see [the] Gators are National Champions and I see everyone storming the court,” he said. “I went all the way from the very top row, all the way down.”
With Florida’s win on Monday, everything came full circle for fans who had been watching and supporting the Gators for years. As Franco put it, “This was the perfect ending I could ask for.”
Meanwhile, Baker Wilcox, a 21-year-old UF political science senior, could not believe Monday night’s victory. He spoke on the intensity of the game and symbolism of Florida clinching a national championship in his final year as a Gator.
Wilcox’s group was split up at the O’Dome watch party, as the arena reached capacity, but he didn’t let it ruin his night. He headed back to a friend’s place to catch the rest of the game, initially hesitating to celebrate at the buzzer, before a waterfall of raw emotions came pouring out.
“At first, there was a second of hesitation … and then after that, I didn’t even think. We just started running to Midtown. We all just started celebrating,” he said. “[Gainesville] was a lot crazier than I thought, especially when I see on TikTok and Instagram today, they’ve got overhead shots from people on balconies. There were so many people. It was unbelievable.”
However, a championship celebration is never complete without something going awry. While Florida fans eagerly awaited the arrival of Gainesville’s heroes at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the team’s flight was delayed out of San Antonio, leaving fans to brave the sweltering heat under a cloudless Florida sky.
A few fans began to trickle toward the exit, but this didn’t stop the majority from sticking out the heat for the entirety of the celebration. Getting to see the team who brought home Florida basketball’s first piece of national hardware since 2007 was too great of an experience to pass up.
Florida industrial and systems engineering senior Daniela Vergara described Monday’s win as surreal, with the hype on the scene in Gainesville surpassing her expectations. Like most fans in attendance, this was the first time Vergara has experienced something as grand as a national championship, and she made sure to soak it all in.
“[Florida men’s basketball is] what makes this school very proud, they carried us,” Vergara said. “It’s too crazy, I don’t know, it’s hard to describe, it’s just insane. We haven’t won this in a while, since 2007… it’s good to be back though. We’re back in the game.”
After several hours of waited anticipation, the Gators basketball team arrived, and they were given a warm welcome by a sea of supportive students grateful for their efforts.
And as they took the stage, the adoring crowd erupting into widespread cheers, the now national champions gathered around two of the game’s most prominent figures: head coach Todd Golden and Walton Clayton Jr.
“They were amazing all year, 36 wins, one of the best teams of all time in college basketball, standing behind me right here,” Golden said.
When given the microphone, Clayton Jr. had one thing to tell the world.
“Florida’s back on top, man.”
With the short speeches over, the Gator basketball team jumped down from Flavet Field’s stage and ran into the crowd, high-fiving every hand in their path.
Golden followed suit, only after fans chanted “Golden” repeatedly, and motioned for him to do the same.
After looping through the crowd, some basketball players migrated back to the team’s bus, ready to celebrate.
Other players, including Alex Condon, Micah Handlogten and Thomas Haugh, stayed to sign autographs for the hundreds of fans gathered against fences and around the bus.
From taking selfies and signing basketballs, Condon was at a loss for words at the amount of fans that showed up for the team.
“It’s crazy. Look at this,” he said motioning to the screaming fans. “This is my home away from home.”
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.com. Follow him on X @CuranAhern
Curan is the men's tennis beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major. He enjoys spending his free time with pets, at the beach and fishing.
Kairi Lowery is a third-year journalism major and a metro general assignment reporter for The Alligator. When she's not writing you can find her lounging on the beach with a book or collecting vinyls.
