College Basketball Report released its Top 50 coaches in college basketball on August 14.
Coming off leading Florida basketball to a national championship, Florida basketball coach Todd Golden cracked the top 10 of the list at No. 10.
Overall, Golden is 76-33 in three seasons with the Florida Gators, with two NCAA Tournament appearances. At 39 years old last April, Golden became the youngest coach since the late Jim Valvano in 1983 to win a national title when he guided UF to a dramatic 65-63 win over Houston in the 2025 national title game.
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Of the nine coaches ranked ahead of Golden, only three have won national championships. Dan Hurley, ranked No. 1, led UConn to back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024. Rick Pitino, at No. 4, led Kentucky to a national title in 1996 and Louisville to a national championship in 2013. Bill Self, at No. 6, led Kansas to national titles in 2008 and 2022.
Nate Oats, who led Alabama to one Final Four in 2024 and Bruce Pearl, who led Auburn to Final Fours in 2019 and 2025, are ranked seventh and eighth. Golden is 4-2 head-to-head against Oats and 3-2 head-to-head against Pearl.
Given those results, Golden should probably be ranked at least ahead of Oats, if not Pearl, and closer to the top five range. Of course, Golden will get a chance to further cement his status as an elite coach in 2025-26, with starting foward Alex Condon, starting center Rueben Chinyelu and star sixth man Thomas Haugh returning in an effort to defend UF’s national title.
UF opens the 2025-26 season against Arizona in Las Vegas, Nev., on Nov, 3.
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Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com`
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball coach Todd Golden ranked in Top 10 in national coaches list
