Todd Golden knows there are plenty of reasons to be high on Florida in the 2026-27 season.
The Gators return all but one of their starters from last season: Alex Condon, Boogie Fland, Rueben Chinyelu, and Thomas Haugh. Denzel Aberdeen, who helped Florida win a national championship in 2025, is back to close out his college career after a season at Kentucky. Though the Gators suffered a tough loss to Iowa in the NCAA tournament’s second round in March as a No. 1 seed, it will be hard to imagine them not making a much deeper run this season.
So what does Golden think about his team being ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP poll for the first time since 2006-07 and the Gators being viewed as a legitimate title contender?
“We’re leaning into it at this point,” Golden told 247Sports’ Kyle Tucker. “As we talked about last year, I’m not sure we were ready for all the expectation graduating three guys to the NBA, but this year I think this team is ready for it. And last year we went through some of those tough times, whereas now we know what that looks like. But we’re not running from the No. 1 target.”
Having core players like Condon, Chinyelu, and Haugh certainly helps, too.
“We’re not asking any of them to become someone they’re not. They don’t need to be. All three of them are NBA players right now,” Golden said. “But just, Tommy being a little bit better shooting the ball, ‘Condo’ doing a little bit better job taking care of the ball and getting on the glass, Rueben being a little more efficient in the post, just certain things that’ll take them from where their standing was last year to five or ten percent better this year.
“And if they’re able to do that across the board. we’re gonna have three first-round picks come next season.”
Is a title-or-bust view of this season poison for No. 1 Florida? “We’re leaning into it," Todd Golden says. "Last year, I’m not sure we were ready for all the expectation. But I think this team’s ready for it. We’re not running from the No. 1 target." t.co/z7ryiEvQhU pic.twitter.com/Uep1AI18s5
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTuckerCBB) October 20, 2026Todd Golden discusses Florida’s national championship expectations: ‘We’re not running from (it)’ Saturday Down South.
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