Seth Greenberg previews 'teacher vs. pupil' matchup between Auburn, Florida in Final Four

The Auburn Tigers and Florida Gators are plenty familiar with one another. Now, the SEC rivals are set to tip off in perhaps the most important game the two have ever played against one another when they meet in the Final Four.

That familiarity extends to the two head coaches. Auburn’s Bruce Pearl has been a mentor to Florida’s Todd Golden in the past. The teacher and pupil relationship is where college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg began on Get Up when previewing this Final Four matchup.

“It’s the teacher, Bruce Pearl, vs. the pupil, former assistant coach Todd Golden,” Seth Greenberg said. “It was a game [earlier this season] where they went into Auburn — Florida — and kicked the crap out of Auburn. Absolutely. Auburn could not get a stop.”

Bruce Pearl took over at Auburn in 2014. There, he hired Todd Golden, a young assistant who had only had one previous stop at Columbia. There, Golden would stay and learn from Pearl through the 2016 season before moving on to San Francisco where he eventually got his first opportunity as a head coach.

The Final Four, of course, won’t be the first time Pearl and Golden have competed against one another since Golden took the Florida job. In four previous meetings, the two are 2-2 against one another. That includes earlier this season when Florida beat Auburn 90-81. However, as Greenberg made clear, these two teams are at very different places entering the Final Four than they were for that game in early February.

“But this Auburn team’s a little bit different. Like, Florida has been kind of living on the edge. If Walter Clayton doesn’t happen in the Connecticut game,” Greenberg said. “If Walter Clayton doesn’t happen, obviously, the other day against Texas Tech, Florida is not there. I think Auburn is starting to gain a little bit of momentum. They’re starting to get back to their identity. This Florida team is dynamic offensively. They’ve got great versatility, but to me, Auburn is playing the best basketball they’ve played in the last month. Auburn’s going to be tricky to get out.”

The Final Four is set to tip off at 5:09 p.m. EST on Saturday, April 5th in San Antonio, Texas. There, the two one seeds will decide who moves on to play for a national championship. This comes in a year where the Final Four involves all of the one seeds from this year’s tournament. This is the first time since 2008 that has happened.