Florida vs. Auburn Preview: Todd Golden Faces Familiar Foe in High-Stakes SEC Clash
When Florida and Auburn tip off Saturday in Gainesville, it won’t just be another SEC showdown - it’ll be a reunion wrapped in rivalry. Gators head coach Todd Golden will find himself coaching against one of his oldest friends and former colleagues, Steven Pearl, now the man at the helm of the Tigers.
Golden and Pearl go way back. Teammates.
Co-assistants. Practically family.
But come game time, the friendship hits pause. Florida’s chasing a sixth straight SEC win, sitting at 14-5 overall and 5-1 in conference play.
Auburn, at 12-7 and 3-3 in the SEC, is trying to build momentum after back-to-back wins and navigate the growing pains of a coaching transition.
“We want to beat them pretty bad. They want to do the same to us,” Golden said Friday. “I think we can do a good job of separating that relationship from the competition this weekend.”
This won’t be the first time Golden has gone head-to-head with the Pearls. He was on the sideline during the 2025 Final Four when Florida edged out Auburn 79-73 - with Steven Pearl still serving under his father, Bruce.
But this time, Bruce is out of the picture, having retired suddenly in September after 700 career wins. Steven stepped into the spotlight, but the transition hasn’t been seamless.
Auburn stumbled out of the gate, dropping its opener by two points to unranked Oklahoma State and needing overtime to get past Bethune-Cookman at home. A narrow loss to then-No. 1 Houston was respectable, but lopsided defeats to Michigan (by 30), Arizona (29), and Purdue (28) raised red flags.
Florida’s early-season schedule was no cakewalk either. The Gators went 5-4 before SEC play, but those four losses came by a combined 13 points - a sign they were close, even when they didn’t come out on top.
“It’s all about expectation,” Golden said. “Some of the stuff we dealt with early in the year, having high expectations and struggling to meet that.
They also had a lot similar. Obviously, we probably kept it a little closer in those games.”
Since then, both teams have shown signs of turning the corner. Auburn bounced back from the Michigan loss with a win over St.
John’s and made a statement in SEC play with a 95-73 win over then-No. 15 Arkansas.
Golden sees the talent and the upside.
“They’re a very talented team that has a really high ceiling,” he said.
Still, the Gators are the ones trending upward with real momentum. They’ve won 10 straight SEC games at home and 16 straight overall in the O’Connell Center, including nine this season by an average margin of 25.2 points. That’s not just homecourt advantage - that’s homecourt dominance.
Golden’s group is built on size, depth, and physicality. And they’ll need all of it against Auburn’s frontcourt, led by Keyshawn Hall.
The 6-foot-7, 225-pound power forward is putting up 20.1 points, 7.6 boards, and nearly 3 assists per game after transferring from UCF. He’s joined by 6-foot-10, 230-pound KeShawn Murphy, giving Auburn a front line capable of doing real damage.
Florida’s counterpunch? A frontcourt that’s been one of the most productive and relentless in the country.
Alex Condon, the 6-foot-11, 230-pound big man, is averaging 14.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Rueben Chinyelu, at 6-foot-10 and 260 pounds, is a force on the glass, leading the SEC with 11.2 rebounds per game - including 21 in Tuesday’s 79-61 win over LSU.
Freshman Filip Jović, a 6-foot-8 forward from Serbia, has quietly become a key contributor during conference play, averaging 6.9 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting a blistering 84% from the field (21-of-25).
“We’re gonna have our hands full with those guys,” Golden said. “We got to lean into our depth and make sure that we’re putting pressure on them on every shot and every possession in our hope of wearing them down a little bit.”
Auburn’s backcourt brings its own challenges. Sophomore point guard Tahaad Pettiford is a dynamic scorer at 13.9 points per game and dishes out 3.2 assists. Elyjah Freeman, a 6-foot-8 shooting guard, adds size and versatility to the perimeter - a tough matchup for any defense.
Golden knows this Auburn team is better than its record, and he’s not taking anything for granted - especially not with a close friend on the opposite bench and the son of a coach who once mentored him.
Bruce Pearl has long been a father figure to Golden, dating back to the 2005 World Maccabiah Games, where Pearl coached Golden and his own son, Steven. The ties run deep. But as Golden reminded everyone Friday, once the ball tips, it’s all business.
“They are going to play a certain way and take pride in being good in the margins like we do and being competitive,” he said.
This one’s got all the ingredients: history, emotion, high-level talent, and serious SEC implications. Florida’s chasing a return to the Final Four.
Auburn’s fighting for its postseason life. And at the center of it all?
Two friends-turned-rivals, each trying to outwit the other for 40 minutes.
“They’re better than their record is right now in the league,” Golden said. “We’re mindful of that.”