Todd Golden a top contender for college basketball Coach of the Year, per SI

Does Florida’s Todd Golden have a legitimate chance to be college basketball’s Coach of the Year? Yes, says one well-known website. Tuesday, SI.com ranked the top-10 Coach of the Year Candidates — and it has the Gators coach high on the list.

Wrote Kevin Sweeney, who placed Golden at No. 4 on his list: “Golden has the Gators program on a rapid upward trajectory, looking like a legitimate national title contender in just his third year on the job. Saturday’s win at Auburn is arguably the best victory of the season for any team, and the Gators did that without star wing Alijah Martin, an elite portal evaluation by Golden’s staff. He has gotten the most out of overlooked adds like Martin, Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh, all while helping star guard Walter Clayton Jr. transfer seamlessly to the point guard spot from his off-ball role a year ago.”

Under Todd Golden, Florida is 20-3 and No. 3 in the Top 25

Who’s No. 1 right now in Sweeney’s mind? That would be the coach Golden just beat last Saturday — Auburn’s Bruce Pearl. “Pearl has built the best team in college basketball a year after getting bounced in the first round of the NCAA tournament by Yale. Much of this group’s success has been based on retention, with national player of the year candidate Johni Broome headlining a strong group of players who came back for another season after the Yale debacle,” Sweeney wrote.

Louisville’s Pat Kelsey is No. 2 on his list, followed by Rick Pitino of St. John’s.

Golden will certainly have a strong case for the year-end honor if the Gators continue to play at their current level. No. 3 Florida is sitting at 20-3 overall, 7-3 in the SEC following last Saturday’s big 90-81 road win over No. 1 Auburn. The Gators play at No. 22 Mississippi State on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, Florida is No. 5 in the NET Rankings, which are used to help with NCAA Tournament seeding. Most current NCAA Tournament projections have the Gators as a No. 2 seed, although USA Today puts Florida in a No. 1 spot.

UF just beat the No. 1 team in the country on Saturday

“It’s incredible,” Golden said after beating Auburn on Saturday. “I’m very proud of our program and where it is in Year 3. Again, I think it speaks a lot about our staff and our players to be able to come into an environment like this. Obviously, I worked here for two years, and I know what being able to compete in here is all about. Obviously, Bruce [Pearl] and their program has done an incredible job. Best team in the country. One of, if not the best environments in America. The crowd is just insane. You make one mistake and the place is going nuts.

Again, I think the biggest key was the mental toughness of our team. We just executed for 37 minutes. In that second half, it felt like we were out there forever. I kept looking up at the clock and it’s still 13 minutes, 12 minutes. It just seemed like it was never going to run out. But at halftime we talked to the guys about wanting to play 60 more minutes, not just 20. It’s a huge win for us. It’s a really big win for us. Obviously, it’s a needle-mover in terms of NCAA seeding. It’s a needle-mover in terms of where we finish in the SEC. I’d be hard-pressed to believe there’s going to be another club that’s going to be able to come in here in conference play and get a win.”

Golden now is 59–31 in his third season at Florida. He reached the NCAA Tournament with the Gators for the first time last season.