When Florida traveled to the plains of Alabama to play No. 1 Auburn Tigers on Feb. 8, the Gators were tasked with knocking off the best team in the best conference in college basketball without their second-leading scorer in senior guard Alijah Martin. In a shocking upset, Florida came away with the victory, and sophomore forward Thomas Haugh wasn’t shy to let the Auburn fans know about it.
The final buzzer went off, and Haugh seemingly did a victory lap around “The Jungle,” side-stepping around the court while simultaneously waving goodbye to the Tigers fans in attendance. It marked the first time in program history Florida defeated a No. 1 team on the road. But now, the stakes in its Final Four matchup against Auburn will be even higher.
In the first Final Four featuring all four No. 1 seeds since 2008, top-seeded Florida (34-4, 14-4 SEC) will take on fellow top-seed Auburn (32-5, 13-3) in the first national semifinal game in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday.
“It’s awesome that we get to play an SEC team,” UF head coach Todd Golden said. “I think it’s pretty special, what the league was able to do this year and getting the team in Auburn that we’re very familiar with. We’ve obviously competed against them two months ago, a program that we know a lot about, they obviously know a lot about us as well.”
Golden likely knows more about Auburn’s program than anyone else on his staff or roster. In 2014, he was hired as head coach Bruce Pearl’s director of basketball operations, and often refers to Pearl as one of his ‘mentors’. From there, Golden was elevated to an assistant coaching position for the 2015-16 campaign.
The Florida head coach has come a long way in his coaching career since handling scheduling responsibilities and crunching numbers in his analytics and metrics data role at Auburn. However, Golden still pays homage to the time he shared with Pearl, acknowledging what he sees as a true full circle moment.
“It's a little surreal, to be honest, to be able to be here at the Final Four,” Golden said. “Playing on Saturday against one of your biggest and best mentors, not exactly something you expect when the season starts… I would not be here if I didn't have my relationship and experience working with and being around Bruce.”
During the Feb. 8 meeting between the Gators and Tigers, Florida trailed by 10 in the opening minutes. Though, UF flipped the switch, and the score, to take a 10-point advantage into halftime. In the second half, Florida came out with hot hands and pulled away from the Tigers behind a barrage of crowd-silencing 3-pointers by senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. and junior guard Denzel Aberdeen.
Clayton Jr. finished with 19 points, four 3-pointers and a career-high nine assists without his backourt-sidekick, Martin. His replacement, Aberdeen, stepped up with 10 points to go along with three other Gators who scored double digits. Florida’s 90-81 road victory at “The Jungle” snapped a 27-game home win streak for Auburn inside one of the most daunting atmospheres in college basketball.
“[Clayton Jr.] was elite scoring the basketball in the first half of the game,” Golden said. “[He] was elite making plays for others in the second half of the game. Just controlled it from start to finish. I think things that we internally already knew about him was kind of realized by everybody outside watching that he was, if not the best, one of the best guards in America.”
Beating an elite team once in a season is an accomplishment, but beating one twice is nothing short of a brutally difficult task. The Gators will become all too familiar with this narrative on Saturday, as they prepare for a rematch against an Auburn team that will be hungry for revenge.
After dropping three of its final four games prior to the NCAA Tournament, Auburn has shown its worthiness of the top overall seed ever since. The 2025 SEC regular-season champions ripped off three-straight double-digit wins over No. 16 seed Alabama State, No. 9 seed Creighton and No. 5 seed Michigan to open the NCAA Tournament. From there, Auburn punched its ticket to San Antonio with a 70-64 win over No. 2 seed Michigan State in the Elite Eight.
The Tigers are led by senior AP All-American forward Johni Broome, who averages a double-double with 18.7 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. The Plant City, Florida, native also acts as the anchor for Auburn’s defense, tallying 2.0 blocks per game.
Broome hyper-extended his elbow in the Elite Eight against Michigan State, but all signs point to the Wooden Award nominee being available for the Final Four after returning to practice this week. The senior forward found success against the Gators on Feb. 8, recording 18 points and 11 rebounds. Moreover, one of the more noteworthy storylines heading into the Final Four is that Broome was one of the first recruits Golden had his eye on when taking the head coaching job at Florida.
“We were excited at the opportunity to get him to be a Gator,” Golden said. “Obviously because of his success [at Moorhead State], was recruited by pretty much every big-time program around. We were fortunate enough to get in the mix, to get in the final two… Bruce had been at Auburn, had been solidified as well. They do a great job as well. He decided to go be a Tiger.”
Three other Auburn starters average double-digit scoring marks to round out its veteran squad. Six-foot-7 senior forward Chad Baker-Mazzara averages 12.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game and is a threat to shoot it from deep at a 37-percent clip. Senior guards Miles Kelly and Denver Jones add 11.4 and 10.9 points per game, respectively, with Kelly being Auburn’s leading marksman from 3-point range with 86 made this season.
Despite the Tigers’ array of talent, perhaps their most lethal threat comes off the bench. Freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford has been nothing short of dynamic this season, averaging 11.7 points in just 22 minutes per game while shooting 37 percent from behind the arc. Pettiford also stands near the top of the first round in the majority of 2025 NBA mock drafts.
When comparing the tale of the tape between Florida and Auburn, you’ll be hard pressed to find a significant advantage on either side. The Gators score 85.4 points per game, with the Tigers just behind at 83.2. Defensively Auburn gives up 69.2 points per contest, with Florida being nearly as stout allowing 69.7. Moreover, both sides rank within the top three in KenPom offensive efficiency and top 10 in defensive efficiency.
It will be Florida’s sixth ever time playing in the Final Four, and its first since 2014. It will also be UF’s first time ever facing the Tigers in the NCAA Tournament. Heading into one of the most historic matchups in program history, senior guard Will Richard is keeping a simple, yet determined mindset.
“Just win the game,” he said. “We know they're a great program. We have to come in and play a complete game for 40 minutes, do what we do, make the effort plays, be nails on defense and lock down on offense.”
Tipoff between Florida and Auburn in the Final Four inside the Alamodome is set for 6:09 p.m. ET.
Contact Max Tucker at mtucker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @Max_Tuckr1.
Max Tucker is a senior transfer student at UF. After obtaining his A.A. in Journalism from Santa Fe College in 2023, he chose to further his education at Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. Max is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Journalism with a specialization in sports and media. He enjoys golfing and going to the beach with his friends in his free time.
