Jon Rothstein's take on Todd Golden should have Florida fans jumping for joy

While he did not ask for it, Todd Golden should be incredibly grateful of the type of praise Jon Rothstein threw in his direction recently. The one-of-one college basketball insider for CBS Sports championed the Florida Gators head coach in a way that everyone honestly should be when it comes to the future of the sport. This 53-second clip from Rothstein is why Golden's bank account will grow.

Rothstein started his take on Golden by saying he was sensational previously while at San Francisco.

"Todd Golden is coming off a national championship, not even 45 years of age, and he is now pushing towards a second-straight one seed in the NCAA Tournament. We have to remember when this guy was at San Francisco, he earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2022."

He then continued by saying other up-and-coming head coaches are getting way too much love.

"We hear all the discussion right now about the coach of the year races, and to me, he is clearly the SEC Coach of the Year. But he is not mentioned with the Tommy Lloyds, with the Jon Scheyers, with the Dusty Mays in the National Coach of the Year conversation. He should be, he definitely should be."

Finally, Rothstein put Golden on a tremendous pedestal as a future guiding beacon of the sport itself.

"Because he is one of these guys, and that's why I gave him the tagline 'The Next Generation'. This is going to be one of the figures, as long as he coaches in college, that is going to shepherd the sport into the next decade and beyond."

With two conference games left, SEC champion Florida is more than ready to earn that No. 1 seed.

Let's unpack just a bit more why Rothstein's commentary on Golden's greatness is huge for Florida.

Jon Rothstein champions Todd Golden in a way that Florida fans will love

From a national perspective, Florida never seems to get the credit it deserves as a top-tier basketball program. The Gators have won multiple national titles this century, including going back-to-back under Billy Donovan at the peak of his powers two decades ago. It could be the construct of the SEC needing to reinvent itself as an elite basketball league. It just might be the football of it all. Whatever..

What is important to understand is Florida has claimed the power void at the top of the conference amid Kentucky's downturn over the last several seasons or so, first under John Calipari and now under Mark Pope. Regardless, Florida plays a physical brand of team-first basketball. When that is complemented with great shooting from out on the perimeter, Florida is such a hard team to defeat.

As far as Golden's status in the sport, again, it could have more to do with where he coaches at... Rothstein mentioned Tommy Lloyd, Jon Scheyer, and Dusty May by name when discussing Golden. What have they done that Golden has not? The shame in it all is Arizona and Michigan have not won national titles this century, while Florida has won plenty. Duke is Duke, but Scheyer is not Coach K...

To attempt to tie a bow on this, not all jobs are created equally. Florida has been a program at or near the top of the SEC for decades now. Fans of the sport quickly mention Florida when rattling off the best programs in SEC history. Kentucky always comes first, but Florida is unfairly grouped with schools it has better history than in Arkansas and Tennessee. It should Florida and Kentucky first...

Florida basketball is in the midst of another golden age that is just so happens to be led by Golden.