It came down to one more play.
In a championship game where every possession felt like a fistfight, Florida landed the final punch. Houston buckled. And for Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars, that sliver of difference will sting for a long time.
“They made one more play than we did tonight,” said the 69-year-old Sampson, denied his 800th career win and first national championship in a contest where his team trailed only 64 seconds all night. “We lost by two points. That’s what it came down to.”
That play, and the championship, was decided in the final reel.