Todd Golden comments on Florida’s No. 1 seed hopes after loss to Vanderbilt
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Todd Golden was a frustrated head coach on Saturday in Nashville, tasting defeat for the first time since late January.
Then the leader of Florida‘s basketball machine had to hear the questions in the postgame press conference after the Gators’ SEC Tournament semifinal loss to Vanderbilt about whether his team still deserved a No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday. The sudden debate is now there after Florida’s 12-game winning streak was ended in emphatic fashion by the No. 4 seed Commodores, who took apart the top-seeded Gators in stunningly easy fashion.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi weighed in on Florida’s chances to still grab one of those No. 1 seeds, declaring his opinion during Saturday’s ESPN broadcast.
Then it was Golden’s turn to defend his defeated team in the postgame press conference when asked, point blank, if Florida had still done enough to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“You know what, I do,” Golden said. “I’d be curious who the third team is in that conversation.”
Golden was referring to the debate between his Gators and UConn, and then he asked what third team would enter the battle for that last No. 1 seed. He was told it was Houston, which just happens to be the team that Florida beat in last season’s national championship game.
“Houston? OK, yeah. Looking at Quad 1 wins, I think we’re in a good spot that way. Analytically, the predictive metrics, whether it’s KenPom, Torvik, we’re top four in all those by a wide margin. It’s really not close,” Golden said.
“We had our early season tough start where we played really good, competitive opponents, and road or semi-away venues where we fell a little bit short. We haven’t lost in 54 days or something leading up to this game, playing some of the best basketball in America. I do believe we’ve done enough to be the fourth 1 seed. But we’ll find out (Sunday night).”
With Golden and the Gators now playing the waiting game until Sunday, here are the odds that the Kalshi market is currently giving for the teams in the mix for one of those No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
