Despite a shocking March Madness upset, Florida's Todd Golden receives a surprisingly high grade, proving elite coaching beyond one game's execution.
Florida had high expectations for the 2025-26 season after winning the national championship last year.
The Gators got off to a slow start, going 5-4 before really turning things around during SEC play.
Florida fizzled out at the end, losing by double digits to Vanderbilt in the SEC semifinal. No. 1 seed UF would win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but was upset 73-72 by No. 9 seed Iowa in the second round on Sunday.
Florida finished with a 27-8 record for the season. Despite the early loss, UF head coach Todd Golden is expected to be a top candidate for North Carolina this spring, if he wants the gig.
ESPN's WRUF recently gave Golden an overall grade for the season, arguing he deserved an "A-" for his efforts despite the campaign ending way too early in an upset loss in March Madness.
"Even with the shocking Round of 32 loss to Iowa, it wasn’t coaching that cost the Gators a chance to repeat: it was execution," they wrote. "Golden aimed to foul Bennett Stirtz with his team up two points with 8.9 seconds left in the game to force overtime.
"That was the right move, as Golden was confident in his group’s ability to win with an extra five minutes."
Basically, WRUF is giving Golden a pass for two major mistakes made in the game's final eight seconds on Sunday. Still, there were 60 plus other possessions that the head coach should have had the team better ready for.
WRUF argued that Golden's body of work throughout the season was strong enough to warrant praise as one of the top coaching jobs in the country.
"Outside of Florida’s final outing, Golden proved to be one of the best coaches in the country, earning SEC Coach of the Year in his fourth season with Florida," they wrote.
"What’s also impressive is Golden’s ability to transform this year’s team to have a completely different identity than last year’s backcourt-heavy team. To be able to create a new identity with this much success tells a lot about the elite coach that Golden is."
It would appear the local station wants to butter Golden up to keep him from bolting for UNC.
While Golden did a lot right this season, it's hard to give a coach an "A-" grade when he can't get his team into the second weekend as a No. 1 seed. Even without the NCAA Tournament in mind, UF should have won the SEC Tournament.