Florida HC Todd Golden reveals his allegiance in one of baseball's most iconic rivalries

Florida Gators coach Todd Golden is enjoying the offseason after his program's national championship berth. Ahead of their title defense, the 39-year-old is enjoying off the court.

On Tuesday, Golden threw out the first pitch at the MLB regular season game between the Chicago Cubs and the Miami Marlins at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. It was a dream come true for the tenured tactician who's a lifelong baseball fan.

During an interview on the Run It Back podcast on Saturday,, Golden was asked by co-host Michelle Beadle about considering to throw for the White Sox or the Cubs. The defending national champion coach revealed where his allegiance lies in one of the sport's most iconic rivalries.

"I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and I was a huge Cubs fan growing up. Baseball and basketball were my two things. We didn’t have the Diamondbacks until the mid-'90s, so for my first 10 years, I grew up going to spring training in Mesa at HoHoKam, then watching the Cubs every day on WGN growing up," Golden said. (0:50)

"That was a pretty special experience for me, and being able to bring my son was pretty awesome also," he added.

For Golden and the Cubs faithful, they beat Miami 5-4. The Cubs were coming off a 5-2 victory over the Marlins the previous day, but their back-to-back winning streak ended against the same opponents on May 14 with a 3-1 defeat.

Nevertheless, it's been a great offseason for Golden following a successful 2024-25 campaign, finishing with a 36-4 record and 14-4 in SEC playr.

Todd Golden's Florida Gators won their first national championship since 2007

On April 7, coach Todd Golden and the Florida Gators won the 2025 NCAA national championship, beating the Houston Cougars, 65-63, in a winner-take-all game. It was their first national title since 2007.

The last time the Gators won the national title was in back-to-back championship-winning campaigns in 2006 and 2007, led by the likes of NBA standouts Al Horford and Joakim Noah under coach Billy Donovan. Todd Golden's roster will look to emulate that next season.

About the author

Koby del Rosario is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda who took up BS in Advertising Management at De La Salle University, one of the big "four" universities in the Philippines. Koby has over four years of experience with Complex PH, M2.0 Communications, The LaSallian, Daily Tribune, and Time Attack Manila.

Koby's favorite college team would have to be the North Carolina Tar Heels. Apart from being MJ's alma mater, Koby has always been fond of the Jordan silhouettes that release in the school's colors (being a sneakerhead himself).

His past favorite college players would have to be Russell Westbrook (UCLA) and Markelle Fultz (Washington). With Russ, his 1-2 punch with Kevin Love during their UCLA days was something Koby marveled at as Russ became his favorite player to watch post-Kobe.

Besides playing basketball, Koby enjoys nightlife, collecting sneakers, and playing video games. Apart from hosting parties and taking pictures for parties/bars/clubs, Koby is learning to DJ as a hobby with all sorts of house and hip-hop as the main genres.

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Edited by Bhargav