SAN ANTONIO — Todd Golden flings the door open to the coaches’ locker room and before he even takes three steps in, he roars: “PRETTY F—ING INCREDIBLE!!”

He checks his phone and sees 719 unread texts. That number will climb over the next couple of hours, as it should, because Monday night’s game meant the 39-year-old Golden became the youngest coach to win a title since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

The 36-4 Florida Gators are 2025’s kings of the tournament, having outlasted rugged, near-unkillable Houston. Golden’s Gators beat Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars at their own game with a 65-63 conquest, the game unexpectedly ending without a shot attempt after Houston’s Emanuel Sharp accidentally psyched himself out.

Monday’s championship was Florida’s fourth and final comeback victory in this tournament, overcoming various challenges against formidable opponents: against UConn (down six late in the second round), Texas Tech (escaping after trailing by 10 late in the Elite Eight), Auburn (trailing by nine in the second half against the No. 1 overall seed) and ultimately, fighting back from a 12-point deficit to Houston.

Florida went on a 35-21 run to finish the game in the final 15 minutes after falling behind 42-30 with 15:30 left.

The Gators’ comeback ties for the third-largest in NCAA title game history. It also marked the first time a national title game was decided by two points or fewer since Duke’s 61-59 win over Butler in 2010.

“It’s amazing,” Golden says. “It is a great finish to what’s been a lot of hard work put together by a lot of great guys, both on our staff and our players. I’m just really happy that we could provide this opportunity for our guys to be celebrated like this.”