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RALEIGH, N.C. ― Florida basketball coach Todd Golden picked up his first NCAA Tournament win when the No. 1 seed Gators eliminated No. 16 seed Norfolk State 95-69 on Friday night at the Lenovo Center.
The 39-year-old Golden is now 1-2 as an NCAA Tournament coach. In 2022, coaching at San Francisco, Golden's squad lost 92-87 in overtime to Murray State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2024, coaching the Florida Gators as a No. 7 seed, UF lost 102-100 to 10-seed Colorado.
"Very happy, and hopefully this is the first of many over the next few years," Golden said. "This team has been great for us all year and put us in a position where we could be a 1 seed and have a game like this where we're heavily favored and had a very good opportunity to win a ballgame. I'm grateful for my players and my staff for that."
At 31-4, Florida has its sights set on bigger goals after earning a No. 1 seed for just the third time in program history. The Gators next play on Sunday against 8-seed UConn (12:10 p.m., CBS).
Dating back to 1979, Golden became just the eighth NCAA Division I coach in history to pick up his first career tournament win as a No. 1 seed. Here's the full list:
1979 ― Bill Hodges, Indiana
1981 ― Terry Holland, Virginia
1985 ― Bill Frieder, Michigan
1998 ― Bill Guthridge, North Carolina
2005 ― Lorenzo Romar, Washington
2021 ― Juwan Howard, Michigan
2022 ― Tommy Lloyd, Arizona
2025 ― Todd Golden, Florida
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun's Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball coach earns first NCAA Tournament win as a No. 1 seed
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The 39-year-old Golden is now 1-2 as an NCAA Tournament coach. In 2022, coaching at San Francisco, Golden's squad lost 92-87 in overtime to Murray State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2024, coaching the Florida Gators as a No. 7 seed, UF lost 102-100 to 10-seed Colorado.
"Very happy, and hopefully this is the first of many over the next few years," Golden said. "This team has been great for us all year and put us in a position where we could be a 1 seed and have a game like this where we're heavily favored and had a very good opportunity to win a ballgame. I'm grateful for my players and my staff for that."
At 31-4, Florida has its sights set on bigger goals after earning a No. 1 seed for just the third time in program history. The Gators next play on Sunday against 8-seed UConn (12:10 p.m., CBS).
Dating back to 1979, Golden became just the eighth NCAA Division I coach in history to pick up his first career tournament win as a No. 1 seed. Here's the full list:
NCAA basketball coaches who picked up first win at No. 1 seed
1979 ― Bill Hodges, Indiana
1981 ― Terry Holland, Virginia
1985 ― Bill Frieder, Michigan
1998 ― Bill Guthridge, North Carolina
2005 ― Lorenzo Romar, Washington
2021 ― Juwan Howard, Michigan
2022 ― Tommy Lloyd, Arizona
2025 ― Todd Golden, Florida
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun's Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball coach earns first NCAA Tournament win as a No. 1 seed
Continue reading...
