Florida Championed by Fans After Beating Houston to Win 1st NCAA CBB Title Since 2007

The Florida Gators are back on top of the men's college basketball world.

Florida defeated Houston 65-63 in thrilling fashion in Monday's national championship game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. It is the program's third title and first since it went back-to-back in 2006 and 2007.

Houston led for much of the game and had an opportunity to win it on the final possession, but Emanuel Sharp turned the ball over in a stunning development. It looked like he was going up for a three-pointer but never released a shot, which left the ball bouncing and him unable to touch it without traveling.

That clinched the comeback win for the Gators and left Houston painfully close once again in its seventh Final Four in program history. Despite all those Final Four appearances, it is yet to cut down the nets as national champions.

Monday ultimately belonged to the Gators, with Will Richard leading the way with 18 points and eight rebounds and Walter Clayton Jr. overcoming a poor start to add 11 points, seven assists and five boards.

Social media had plenty of reaction to the team's championship:

Both teams were surely confident coming into Monday's game given their impressive comebacks in the Final Four. Houston shocked Duke with a dramatic run in the final minute of their game, while Florida controlled the second half after initially falling behind against Auburn.

But it was the Cougars who established the early momentum.

Their suffocating defense set the tone by cutting off driving lanes, swarming into passing windows, forcing Clayton into contested low-percentage looks and forcing nine turnovers in the first half alone. They converted some of those turnovers into transition opportunities and seemed to rattle the Gators as the opening half took on a frantic feel.

Yet Florida found itself down just three at intermission even though Clayton didn't have a single point and the offense as a whole was largely discombobulated. Richard's outside shooting kept the SEC representative well within striking distance and was about the only thing that worked for the first 20 minutes.

The small margin despite playing so poorly suggested the Gators were in position to bounce back in the second half, but the Cougars had other ideas as they expanded the advantage to double digits behind L.J. Cryer's outside shooting and more of the same dominant defense.

Still, much of the second half took on the same theme as the first. Every time it seemed like Houston was in complete control with Clayton's shooting woes and its stifling defense, Florida would answer to build some momentum of its own.

Clayton finally scored his first field goal with under eight minutes remaining with an and-1 to tie the game and swing the pressure to the Cougars. And they responded to that pressure with a deep Sharp three and Ja'Vier Francis' tip slam to answer and retake the lead.

The back-and-forth continued with Clayton tying the game with a triple and then Alijah Martin giving the Gators the lead on the free-throw line in the final minute.

It was their first lead since early in the first half, but that was all they needed as the defense put the finishing touches on the win by forcing two turnovers in that last minute.

It was an ending that will haunt Houston for as long as it will be celebrated in Florida.