2025 March Madness Recap: Interesting Stats, Betting Nuggets From Florida's NCAA Tournament Victory
2025 March Madness Recap: Interesting Stats, Betting Nuggets From Florida's NCAA Tournament Victory
This year's NCAA Tournament didn't have many Cinderella runs. Ultimately, the four best teams in the Field of 68 advanced into the Final Four.
While upsets were rare, the Tournament exceeded expectations because the best teams competed in the tournament's biggest games.
Eventually, the Florida Gators held on to stun Houston in the Championship game. It was Florida's first national title since its back-to-back titles in 2006-2007. With that, Todd Golden became one of the youngest coaches to ever win the National Championship at just 39 years old.
Below, I'll review a few interesting tidbits and stats from this year's NCAA Tournament game. You'll want to know some of these tidbits for future sports trivia nights!
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2025 March Madness Recap
1. Walter Clayton is HIM
Walter Clayton carried the Florida Gators to a National Championship.
He scored 134 points, made 43 free throws, made 20 threes, had 20 assists, made three blocks, and won six games in the tournament.
According to OptaSTATS, Clayton was the third player to put up these numbers in a six-game span. The other two were Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard. That's elite company.
Will Walter Clayton Jr. Get Drafted in the First Round After His NCAA Tournament Run? Find Out here
2. Defense Wins Championships
The 2025 National Championship game was the first Championship game in which no player scored 20 points or grabbed 10 rebounds since 1985.
Per OptaStats, the NCAA implemented a shot clock beginning in 1986. Ultimately, this was the first time in the shot clock era that this happened in a championship game.
3. You Only Have to Lead in the Final Score
The Florida Gators were trailing by as many as 12 points in the second half, a common theme for them on this NCAA Tournament run. They were down big to Texas Tech and struggled with UConn as well, but ultimately came out on top each time.
The Gators led for a sum total of 63 SECONDS in the entire game. They had the lead when it was 8-6, and then proceeded to trail again until there was under a minute remaining. But the final score gave them a 2-point victory, and that's all that matters at the end of the day.
4. Houston Never Lost By More Than 5 Points
The Houston Cougars were the first Division 1 program in history to play 40+ games in a season and not lose a game by more than five points.
Yet, Houston still couldn't even win the National Championship this year despite all that.
5. Todd Golden Got it Done at Just 39 Years Old
The Florida Gators have won three national titles in basketball and football since 1996, making them the first team to do so.
Todd Golden only joined the program three years ago, and is now the youngest coach to win the National Championship at 39 years old since the legendary Jim Valvano won it all at 37 years old. Coincidentally, that win in 1983 was also over the Houston Cougars.
6. The Eye-Test Works
The Gators also became the first team in the modern era to win a National Championship without a top-100 recruit on the roster.
In fact, Florida's starting lineup only had one four-star recruit in it. Walter Clayton Jr. had no stars in high school, and played his first few years at Iona under Rick Pitino before getting named Most Outstanding Player of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
There's good talent out there beyond just the top-100 players. Florida proved it.
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Jason grew up an avid sports fan. His passion for sports writing grew in high school and he developed a blog that was strictly for New York Sports. From his work, you will quickly realize that he loves looking at games from an analytical and numbers perspective and hopes to provide you with that same perspective in his articles.