How Todd Golden, Florida Gators Are Managing Pressure of Repeating

Repeating as national champions in college basketball is not an everyday occurrence. There are only two programs to achieve it since 2000, and just seven programs in total since 1945 to have done so.

What makes it so difficult to go back-to-back are things like roster turnover, pressure and expectation shifts, injuries or even just the NCAA tournament itself.

That’s why Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden’s message to the team entering the year is less focused on repeating and more centered around making a deep run into March.

“On a macro level, our goal is to win again, but with this team specifically, we’re not talking a lot about repeating, but we are talking about doing everything we can to play deep into March,” he said.

Moreover, he believes it would not be fair to the newcomers to have these expectations placed on their shoulders.

“I want the guys that were here to take pride in defending and doing everything they can to get us back there, but on a holistic approach with this team, it wouldn't be fair to the new guys to be pouring into that all the way,” Golden said. “We got a lot of steps to go before we get back there.”

Head coach Todd Golden celebrates after leading the Florida Gators to a national championship in his third season as the head coach. | Kyle Lander / Gators Illustrated

Florida does have experience with title defense campaigns, though. Before the UConn Huskies achieved back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024, it was the Gators who were the most recent to accomplish it.

The Gators won it all in 2006 and 2007, largely due to the number of returning players. They returned not just one, but three core pieces from their 2006 national championship-winning squad to help guide them back to another one in 2007.

Al Horford, Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer all stuck around in Gainesville for another year to create this special memory before embarking on their respective successful pro journeys.

Unfortunately for Golden, he won’t have the luxury of returning any of Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin or Will Richard.

“It’s tricky, because unlike 20 years ago, we don’t have our whole starting five back,” Golden said.

However, he will have his entire championship-winning frontcourt back for the upcoming season. Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh, Micah Handlogten and Rueben Chinyelu are back in the Orange and Blue in 2025.

“The four big guys coming back, I like a lot. It’s kind of the maturation of this group,” Golden said. “Their energy and enthusiasm has been great. Even at the beginning of the summer, they came back with an awesome mentality.”

Florida Gators forwards Alex Condon (21) and Thomas Haugh (10) headline the team's returning players. | Kyle Lander / Gators Illustrated

One side effect of these four returning, along with the addition of a few transfer pieces, is the pressure to repeat as national champions.

The Gators will certainly enter the year near the top spot of the rankings, potentially even the No. 1 team in the preseason poll. As a result, lofty expectations will be placed upon the Gators by their peers from the jump.

With that being the case, Condon stated that they will need to take it game by game, focusing only on what is in front of them.

“We are going to be a lot of preseason No. 1 or top three or top five, so we have to take it one game at a time,” he said. “Everybody is going to play their best when they play us, so we have to be ready.”

Not many have lived with this type of pressure and come out successful on the other side, as previously mentioned.

Luckily for Florida, there is one coach on Golden’s coaching staff who has experience repeating as a national champion. Assistant coach Taurean Green played a vital role in the Gators winning their pair of national championships.

Although he and the players have yet to have the conversation about the challenges of going back-to-back, they know he’ll be all ears whenever they come his way.

“Nah, I haven't,” Haugh said. “But we watched a little documentary about it that ESPN or somebody made where it showed the back-to-back years, and it was cool seeing that. But I'm sure that he'll answer any questions we got for him."

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