One year after clinching its third NCAA Tournament title in basketball program history, Florida is looking to become the third team to win back-to-back national championships. As the first Gators head coach to win consecutive national titles in the modern March Madness era, Billy Donovan gave Todd Golden a word of advice ahead of his repeat quest.
Golden called Donovan just months after winning the 2025 NCAA Tournament to ask the Chicago Bulls head coach for advice before beginning Florida's repeat journey. Golden revealed that Donovan advised him to “realize the confetti has stopped falling” and to find a new identity before March, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.
“Billy Donovan told Golden the players have to realize the confetti has stopped falling for this year's team,” Thamel said on ‘College GameDay.' “He encouraged Golden to be intentional about being a distinct identity for these Gators. Golden joked with me yesterday his takeaway was, ‘You're not defending anything.'”
Our @CollegeGameDay hit on the advice Billy Donovan passed on to Todd Golden this summer about the challenges of repeating as champs. Can Florida see confetti falling for two-straight years? pic.twitter.com/AOOQazM9xT
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 28, 2026
Despite winning consecutive national championships in 2006 and 2007, Donovan remained in Gainesville until 2015, when he accepted the head coaching position of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Donovan left for his current position with the Bulls in 2020.
Todd Golden believes Florida is “really, really special”
Although Florida got off to a rocky 5-4 start to the 2025-2026 college basketball season, Golden knows his team is more than capable of repeating as national champions. The 40-year-old recalled the precise moment he knew his team had the potential to be “really special” in the postseason.
That moment came after the Gators' consecutive wins over No. 18 Georgia and No. 21 Tennessee, according to Thamel.
“[Todd Golden] admitted it's going to be different for this Florida team to find its identity,” Thamel said. “Remember, they lost three or four games in late November, early December. Golden said a distinct turning point for these Gators came Jan. 10 here against Tennessee. They blew out the Vols by 24, and Golden said that day he realized this Gator team could be really, really special. We'll see if that means they see some orange and blue confetti falling in Indianapolis in April.”
Since the early bumps, Florida has put all the pieces together at the right time. The Gators are currently 7-0 in February and sit atop the SEC with a 13-2 conference record. They have gone 17-2 since their loss to UConn on Dec. 9, 2025.
