Todd Golden took Florida to the NCAA Tournament in his second season with the program. The Gators went from 16 wins in Year 1 to 24 in Year 2, buoyed by an offense that ranked 12th nationally in adjusted efficiency, per KenPom. But the Gators were 1-and-done in the tourney, falling to Colorado 102-100 in the 7-10 game.
The Gators couldn’t defend a soul last season.
They can now.
“Obviously we had a really explosive offensive team last year, but we didn’t guard well enough to advance well enough in the NCAA Tournament,” Golden said Saturday on ESPN’s College GameDay. “We got that right this year. We guard pretty well.”
"[Last year] we didn't guard well enough to advance in the NCAA tournament. We got that right this year." ? —@GatorsMBK HC Todd Golden on No. 3 Florida ? pic.twitter.com/SErRTzy8sc
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) March 1, 2025RELATED READING: Florida belongs in title conversation alongside Auburn and Duke, Jay Bilas says
Florida’s offense has improved this season, climbing up to fourth in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency ranking. But the defense is the story. The Gators ranked 94th in adjusted efficiency last season. They rank eighth this season.
Golden’s group is 1 of only 3 teams in the nation to rank top 10 in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency.
“Early on in the year, we thought we had a really good club but we didn’t necessarily have this respect nationally that we do now, so we got to go after teams,” Golden said. “Over the last month, we’ve been the team with the target on our back, especially with that Auburn win on the road. That’s just that next step we have to take as a program if we want to be one of the best in America.”
Golden said his team felt early in the season it had a chip on its shoulder. That underdog mentality persists even now.
The respect has arrived, though. Florida is a 9-point favorite (via bet365) over No. 12 Texas A&M on Saturday. The Gators have the fifth-best odds of any team in the country to win a national title, priced at +1000 on bet365.
Todd Golden says Florida got its defense right after disappointing 2024 NCAA Tournament Saturday Down South.
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