One of the storylines coming into the national title game was whether or not Florida Basketball would panic about the pressure that Houston was bound to throw at the Gators. The Cougars had carved their pathway to the national title game by making Duke crap their pants as the pressure ramped up.
But Florida had been in this spot all season long, and as Todd Golden alluded to after the game, the Gators didn't panic even when the odds didn't look great in the second half.
Florida Basketball: Battle Tested
When Duke choked to Houston, Charles Barkley said after the game that "Duke had the skill, but Houston had the will."
Perhaps for the first time all season, Houston ran up against a team that was willing to fight back, and Todd Golden alluded to that fact after closing out the national title:
"We did what we did all year. We stayed the course. We have the best backcourt in America. The best frontcourt in America. Like what we've done all year, we made plays when we needed them the most. We guarded our butts off down the stretch. Made every 50-50 winning play. The Gators are natty baby - we got the natty baby!"
To Golden's point, the senior leadership of Florida's guards never looked like they were ever 100% rattled. Even though Walter Clayton Jr. wasn't scoring early, Will Richard stepped up to allow Florida to keep contact.
And when the game was on the line, and Houston looked for a patented three for their One Shining Moment, it was a team effort from the Gators not to allow the shot off as Alex Condon dove to the floor to secure the win.
Being battle-tested mattered and it allowed Florida to do something no one else had been able to do:
They outlasted Houston.
Their prize?
A national title.