By: Michael Spiers

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The Florida Gators are national champs, and they absolutely earned it.

This wasn’t one of those lucky runs or feel-good Cinderella stories. Florida took the hard road, the kind that leaves no doubt about who deserves the trophy.

They battled through the SEC, the toughest conference college basketball has ever seen, which somehow managed to send 14 teams to the NCAA Tournament.

Then they won the conference tourney. And from there? They tore through a stacked NCAA bracket that saw all four No. 1 seeds make the Final Four. That almost never happens.

To even reach the championship game, the Gators had to take down UConn, a team that had won back-to-back national titles.

Then they found themselves down 12 points in the second half against Houston, a team that led for most of the game. But Florida didn’t blink. They chipped away at the lead, made big-time plays down the stretch, and pulled off a gutsy 65-63 win to claim their third national title.

It wasn’t always pretty, but it was gritty, and that fits this team perfectly.

Florida didn’t get here by stacking up five-star freshmen. They built this roster with savvy transfers—guys who had already proven themselves elsewhere.

Walter Clayton Jr. started at Iona. Alijah Martin played most of his college career at Florida Atlantic. Will Richard came over from Belmont. None of them were top 100 high school recruits, but together, they formed one of the best and most well-rounded squads in the country.

Clayton was a star all tournament long. Martin brought leadership and toughness from his deep run with FAU last year. Richard, who scored the most in the title game, showed up big when it mattered most. These weren’t one-and-done prospects. They were veterans who knew how to win.

Head coach Todd Golden deserves a lot of credit for putting it all together. In just his third year with the Gators, he’s built a team that thrives in today’s transfer-heavy landscape.

That said, his season wasn’t without controversy. Golden was the subject of a Title IX complaint before the season started, involving accusations of stalking and harassment.

The university later said there was no evidence to support the claims and closed the investigation in January. Golden hasn’t said much about it, and neither has the school, but after this season it’s likely his next big headline will be about a contract extension.

Now, as impressive as Florida’s run was, it also says something bigger about where college basketball is heading.

This year’s tournament? Not exactly the wild ride we’ve come to expect. No buzzer-beater upsets. No Cinderella crashing the party. The lowest seed in the Sweet 16 was a No. 10 from, you guessed it, the SEC. It was a tournament full of top dogs, and Florida, with its battle-hardened group of transfers, came out on top.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I firmly believe players should have the freedom to move, get paid, and find the best spot for themselves. It’s just… different.

The charm of March Madness has always been its unpredictability, the chance to watch tiny schools knock off the giants. But when all the best mid-major talent ends up at places like Florida, those magical moments might become a lot rarer.

Still, none of that is Florida’s fault. They just played the hand they were dealt better than anyone else. They didn’t just adapt to the new world of college hoops. They owned it. And now they’ve got another championship banner to show for it.

So, while this year’s tournament might’ve been a little short on the “madness,” it was full of high-level basketball.

Florida’s path was as tough as it gets, and they passed every test. Like it or not, this is what winning in college basketball looks like now. And Florida? They’ve set the standard.