The Gators (30-4) lost in this game a year ago. This time, they showed off their depth going through No. 21 Missouri, No. 5 Alabama and now the Vols. The result is finishing their 12th appearance in this game all-time to add another title to the list that started with three straight between 2005-07.

Now the Gators are ready to head to the NCAA Tournament as the No.1 seed.

“When we are playing like this, I think we are the best team in America,” Golden said.

Will Richard added 17 points for Florida. Alex Condon had 13, Thomas Haugh 11 and Alijah Martin 10.

Richard wore one of the nets around his neck talking to reporters, and the senior made clear he doesn’t want his first to be his last. This is just more motivation.

“Cutting down the nets is a great feeling, but we want to be able to do that in the NCAA Tournament as well,” Richard said.

Fourth-seeded Tennessee (27-7) goes home still looking for its first title in this event since 2022. The Vols have five SEC championships, but dropped to 1-3 under coach Rick Barnes with this the Vols’ fourth final in the past seven tournaments.

“We came with the idea we wanted to win this tournament,” Barnes said. “Disappointed that we didn’t. We get to go again next week. Hope that we can survive and keep moving on.”

Jordan Gainey led the Vols with a career-high 24 points. Zakai Zeigler had 23 and Chaz Lanier added 11 before fouling out.

“The experience we’ve had, playing the best of the best in this conference is going to help us in March, and that’s the biggest goal,” Tennessee senior Jahmai Mashack said of balancing the disappointment of the loss.

Tennessee forward Igor Milicic Jr. (7) reacts to play against Florida during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the final round of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

These teams split during the season with each winning routs defending their home courts. The Vols had enough fans that this felt like a home court. Yet they led only briefly, the last less than two minutes in at 6-5.

Florida took over from there. The Gators jumped out to a 34-22 lead and took a 39-30 edge into halftime thanks to a buzzer-beating deep 3 from Denzel Aberdeen. Tennessee never got closer than five in the second half.

Net time

Florida forward Thomas Haugh (10) and Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen (11) chase a loose ball during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the final round of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Clayton also had a net around his neck, and he got to cut down a net at Iona in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference where he was the league player of the year before transferring to Florida. He recalled his first title back in high school where no one was allowed to cut nets for a simple reason.

Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. (1) and Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler (5) chase a loose ball during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the final round of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

“They had games after us,” Clayton said with a big smile.

Who’s MVP?

There was some momentary confusion during the postgame ceremony when Richard first was announced as the MVP, then Clayton.

Takeaways

Tennessee: Playing this tournament in the Volunteer State doesn’t help the Vols. They are 1-5 all-time in SEC title games in this state. They go home with the last tournament title won in Tennessee back in 1936 in Knoxville.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — McLaren’s Lando Norris won a chaotic rain-affected Australian Grand Prix, his first victory at Albert Park, with the British driver just managing to stay ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen following a third safety car late in Sunday’s season-opening Formula 1 race.

Lewis Hamilton had a miserable Ferrari debut. The seven-time champion finished 10th and was annoyed by constant radio messages from his pit team.

Norris started Melbourne’s first wet race since 2010 from pole position and initially came under increasing pressure from his teammate Oscar Piastri, who set a series of fastest laps until his team told him to hold position. Later, the Australian driver spun at the penultimate corner on lap 44 as the rain intensified and dropped down the order.

A late-race fightback helped Piastri recover to take ninth place — including passing Hamilton on the final lap — and two championship points.

Verstappen finished 0.895 behind Norris after starting from third on the grid, and took advantage of Piastri’s misfortune and the final safety car and tire stops. Mercedes’ George Russell closed out the top-three.

“I knew I had a good pace, but I made one mistake in turn six and he (Verstappen) got me in the DRS and the DRS around here is probably like a second or something so that allowed it to keep staying within that second,” said Norris, who scored McLaren’s 12th win in Australia to take the outright record from Ferrari.

“I know what I’m capable of, I know what I can do, but obviously it’s just round one, so we need to go and do it again next weekend and then continue from there. A long season ahead, we’ve just got to keep our head down and keep pushing.”

Williams endured a mix bag, with Alex Albon finishing fifth to secure his best result since Abu Dhabi in 2020, and new recruit Carlos Sainz – who won here last year driving for Ferrari – out at the final turn on the opening lap.

Mercedes was thrilled to get two cars in the top four, with Russell on the podium, his first since winning in Las Vegas last year. Rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who replaced Hamilton on the team, showed his class with a superb fightback drive from 16th on the grid, following his qualifying exit, to finish fourth – after his 5-second penalty for an unsafe pit stop release was successfully appealed.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll also made the best of the chaotic conditions to move up from 13th to sixth, ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg, bringing home eight points in what has been a difficult weekend for the team with its car uncompetitive in dry conditions.

Ferrari is one of the most successful constructors at the Australian Grand Prix, with 11 wins since its first in 1987, but it will leave Melbourne disappointed with just five points after Charles Leclerc finished eighth and Hamilton 10th.

The Scuderia was seen as a potential championship challenger ahead of the season but has plenty of work to do ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix next week.

The Melbourne race had a thrilling start with Racing Bull’s Isack Hadjar out on the formation lap, and Alpine’s Jack Doohan joining Sainz in crashing out on the opening lap.

There were just 14 finishers, after Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso hit the turn eight barriers on lap 34, while Red Bull’s Liam Lawson and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto crashed out of the race 10 laps from home in the treacherously wet conditions.

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AP Formula 1: https://apnews.com/hub/formula-one