Florida Gators Men’s Basketball are SEC Champions!

[Escambia94]

The 2024-25 Florida Gators dominated the strongest Southeastern Conference schedule in history. Regardless of what happens next, this year’s Gators will forever be known as the champions one of the greatest college basketball conferences NCAA has ever seen, and at the final buzzer of this campaign it was the Florida Gators that remained standing, beating the Tennessee Volunteers 86-77 for what will be a memorable win for the program.

 

[DRU2012]

This team just keeps upping its game, coming on stronger. After a strong season, they actually appear to be peaking at the right time.
We should have been the true #1 Seed in ternz of which regional we will start in--but the good news is that none of that seems to concern this squad. Thank the Coach for that. If a team's "emotional poise and balance" is as important a factor as some maintain, this could be one fun ride.

 

[DRU2012]

After all that, this talented team appears to be blowing it, letting it all get away from them in the 2nd game--albeit against UConn, who has won the last TWO of these Dances AND has a 5-and-1 record against us--but I still thought we'd go further than THIS: It seems to be slipping away with less than 10 minutes left...
If they don't pull off a serious rally soon, we WILL lose by a handful of points. Sad.

 

[DRU2012]

Should we indeed lose, the SEC Championship will be worth about as much to US as it apparently did to the committee that seeded us FOURTH IN THE TOURNAMENT!

 

[DRU2012]

BAT SHIT CRAZY!!!
GATORS come back in the last moments and WIN--BY ONE BASKET (77-75)!
Whew, that was as close as it GETS!
(Stating the OBVIOUS once again...)

 

[DRU2012]

Truth is, Clayton came thru bigtime once again, not only as the game's high scorer but with several key scoring plays in the last 2 minutes to grab and further open up a decent lead that even a frantic, wild last-minute effort by the Huskies was not able to overcome...That final score SOUNDS closer than it was: I was exhaling my first real sigh of relief almost a full minute BEFORE the final buzzer as UConn's last desperate shot went down--still leaving them short 2...so now it LOOKS closer than it really was.
But DAMN: It was STILL wicked close!!!

 

[DRU2012]

I have a feeling that after this latest struggle, this squad will more or less sail smoothly through to the Final Four, where they'll like find their next real test.
Oh, they may have some rough spots ahead--In losing interest at times they seem to cause their own difficulties...Ever hear the phrase, "own worst enemies"?--That's how you more often find trouble when you are the most talented team out there.
And this time that is who and what they are.

 

[DRU2012]

I'm not a big roundball fan--and this is exactly why...
Of course I got caught up in this 2025 Gator Tournament run, and WAS watching the Elite 8 gzne vs Texas Tech until moments ago--when they went from 5 point lead to 5 point deficit in a sudden terribly-timed slump mid-2nd half.
They kept playing with fire, game after game, now they run into a #3 seed who's good at hitting 3s and they've got a hot hand late--and that was JUST when this Gator squad went completely cold.
Well, this UF team has great talent, but may just have run into the wrong team at the wrong time.
Again, that IS one of the things that can get tge "better team" BEAT in basketball:
One or two hot-handed players on a less-talented squad can just rise up and beat ya.
And Florida has been "messing with teams", then waking up "just in tine" throughout this tournament.
Well, they damn well better wake up PRONTO, or THIS dance is OVER.
.

 

[DRU2012]

(Reply to MYSELF
And so THAT, "Wake UP!", is exactly what they DID. Fortunately I left the gane ON, with sound off, after posting that l ast comment.
But I expected them to fade snd lose ftom there, to be frank. By the time I typed the above, went and got some dessert and a drink from the fridge and cane back, glanced over at the TV for the first time we in several minutes, the mad minut(e of mayhem had commenced and I turned up the sound just in time to witness Clayton once again put the team on his shoulders and carried them to...to what? THEIR FIRST LEAD?
With less than 3 minutes left, for the first time tonight Tech found THEMSELVES playing frantic catch-up.
Pretty goddamn amazing.
I don't know that we are the BEST team in the Final Four (I still say you cannot keep putting yourselves in those kinds of situations til late in games and expect to KEEP coming up winners), but hey, they might well be the TOUGHEST.

 

[DRU2012]

In what is the last basketball game of the 2024-25 season REGARDLESS, instead of finally showing their FULL game beginning-to-end, the Gators picked the Final to play their SLOPPIEST...well, they didn't really "pick" it: Truth is, these Cougars have thus far forced them to play THEIR slow-ball, full on DEFENSIVEV low-scorong game.
Unless these Gators under Todd Goldens up til now brilliant coaching can "flip the switch", turn the 2nd half into a TRACK MEET, we are going DOWN here tonight.
I was afraid of exactly this: A slow-paced/fast clocked game has us WAY under our scoring norms across-the-BOARD for the whole Florida TEAM at the half. They either turn this all around PRONTO, or it'll be a quiet flight home.
But this is the Houston's team exact STYKE OF PLAY...and as I said coming INTO this one, after 7 tries in the Championship Game without winning it (more than ANYONE, EVER), they were due.
I just hoped we coukd continue to put it off--even WITH the odds building in their favor.
But it is starting to LOOK like this might be their night--and NOT ours.
Ouch. Not starting well here in the 2nd half.
Time to hit the gas pedal, boys!

 

[DRU2012]

Well, they waited until there was 19 seconds left in OVERTIME, but they eventually DID hitthe pedal to WIN IT ALL.
GATORS ARE ROUNDBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONS IN 2025...and we DID it by once AGAIN winning the 2nd half--That's what it took to get it to OVERTIME, and, well, THATS when we finally took this thing.
Oh--and it is GREAT, TO BE, A FLORIDA GATOR.