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Florida Gators HC Todd Golden's All-Time NCAA Tournament Record and Best Finishes

Todd Golden is entering his fourth NCAA Tournament as a head coach.
Kyle Lander|
Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden is coming off his first national championship.
Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden is coming off his first national championship. | Kyle Lander / Gators Illustrated

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Despite being a head coach for only seven seasons to date, Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden’s history in the postseason is shaping up to be one of the sport's more decorated resumes. 

At just a youthful 40 years old and stops at San Francisco and Florida, Golden has reached the NCAA Tournament on four separate occasions, including this year's bid. Before the 2025-26 season, Golden achieved tournament berths in 2023-24 and 2024-25 with the Gators and one with San Francisco in 2021-22.  

In three appearances as a head coach, Golden is 6-2.

Florida's head coach has already accomplished in three postseason runs what many coaches strive for during their entire career. On the back of three current NBA guards, Florida grinded out win after win in March to take home the program's third national title, Golden’s first. 

Golden's First Title

The Gators' March Madness run in 2024-25 really began in the Round of 32 against UConn. Florida advanced past UConn to the Sweet 16 with a 77-75 victory over the 2024 National Champions.

They used a strong two-minute stretch within the final three minutes to walk away triumphant in this one, outscoring the Huskies 13-3 from the 2:54 mark to the 40-second mark in the second half. Several Gators chipped in on the scoring run, with Walter Clayton Jr. sinking two difficult threes and Alijah Martin and Will Richard each powering home vicious slams. 

Then, after cruising past Maryland in the Sweet 16, a date with Texas Tech in the Elite Eight awaited. 

Every NCAA men’s basketball champion has its moments along the journey. Moments that create everlasting memories. The battle with Texas Tech was exactly that for Florida. 

Despite an early push from the Red Raiders, the Gators slowly battled back to take a three-point lead late in the first half that they would carry into the halftime locker room. The game was still anyone's at this point, though. 

That is, until Texas Tech started to outmuscle Florida, capturing a 10-point advantage with six minutes remaining.

However, Clayton Jr. and Thomas Haugh had no intentions of exiting March Madness earlier than preferred. The duo combined for 19 of Florida’s final 23 points in the contest, including five threes as a duo. Clayton Jr. also hit the most pivotal shot in the game, nailing a quick turnaround triple to supply Florida with a 78-77 lead with less than a minute remaining. 

That lead stuck over the final minute, as the Gators closed it out to win 84-79 and advance onto the Final Four. 

Another instant classic for the Gators during their 2025 title run is their run-in with the Auburn Tigers in the Final Four. It was a rematch, having already met once earlier in the year, that lived up to the billing. 

It started in Auburn’s favor, who clawed their way to a 46-38 lead at the end of the first 20 minutes. Florida quickly answered to begin the second half with a 9-0 run a few minutes in. 

Once again, though, Florida had Clayton Jr. and their opponents did not. The microwave scorer erupted for 20 second-half points, including 10 over the final four minutes and 29 seconds, to earn Florida a spot in the national championship over Auburn, beating the Tigers 79-73. 

At the end of the yellow brick road for the Gators last March stood the Houston Cougars, a team that played scrappy, physical and fundamental every time on the court. The final test for Golden that year seemingly proved to be the most trying. 

Despite being an offensive juggernaut, Florida struggled to see the ball go through the net at an efficient rate against the Houston defense. The offense shot 40 percent from the field and 25 percent from behind the arc. 

However, so did Houston’s offense. It ended the game shooting 35 percent overall and 24 percent from three. 

And, it was the team’s defense that won Golden his first national championship. On the final play, Houston’s Emmanuel Sharp came off a screen, freeing himself for an open shot, or so he thought. Clayton Jr.'s recovery speed allowed him to contest Sharp's shot, making him second-guess himself and drop the ball. 

Alex Condon eventually dove to the ball and quickly surrendered it to a teammate as the time expired to secure the Gators' first title since 2007. 

Golden's Earlier Appearances

In Golden’s two other tournament appearances, he bowed out in the opening round. 

Hype surrounded the Gators entering March during the 2023-24 season, with Clayton Jr. and Zyon Pullin developing into a dangerous 1-2 punch in the backcourt and forward/center Tyrese Samuel bruising his way in the paint when needed. 

Unfortunately for Golden, his first with the Gators did not go as planned and instead ended heartbreakingly. 

Clayton Jr. tried his best to corral the Buffaloes, with his 33 points, but Colorado’s KJ Simpson sank a baseline jumper with two seconds left. That shot provided Colorado with a 102-100 victory in the Round of 64. 

The 2021-22 tournament berth with San Francisco marked Golden’s debut in the event. It came against Murray State. 

A thrilling, but disappointing loss in his first appearance in March Madness, 10-seed San Francisco fell to seven-seed Murray State 92-87 in OT. His team fought valiantly, but it was not enough to upset the Racers to open the tournament.

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Kyle Lander
KYLE LANDER

Kyle Lander is a contributing writer at Florida Gators on SI. He is also a graduate of the University of Florida with a degree in journalism. On top of his writing, Kyle is a photographer for the site as well. Outside of his work with Florida Gators on SI, he likes to hike, travel, watch movies and hang out with family and friends.

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