![Florida head coach Todd Golden celebrates his 100th win and beating Mississippi State 108-77 an NCAA mens basketball game at Steven C. O'Connell Center Exactek arena in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_2781,h_1564/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01kkp7k39mptjfpgnxp8.jpg "Florida head coach Todd Golden celebrates his 100th win and beating Mississippi State 108-77 an NCAA mens basketball game at Steven C. O'Connell Center Exactek arena in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
As the final seconds ticked down during Florida’s quarterfinal tilt with Kentucky, it cemented the Gators historic season against the Wildcats. For just the second time in program history, Florida has beaten Kentucky three times in the same season. And unlike when it last happened, in 2014, Florida didn’t trail for a single second in any of the three wins.
And in typical Kentucky fan fashion, rather than just accept that Florida has surpassed them in every way, Wildcats fans are left grasping at straws to downplay the accomplishment.
Florida beats Kentucky for the third time in 2026
After Friday’s win, Todd Golden made sure to point out that Florida didn’t trail for a second against Kentucky this season:
Todd Golden after Florida's win over Kentucky:
— Tristan Pharis (@TristanUda) March 13, 2026
"In the three games that we played these guys, they haven't led for one minute." pic.twitter.com/xRzRhIQOIR
This did not sit well with Kentucky fans, who came up with every excuse in the book:
- Todd Golden is so unlikeable.
- Florida was playing its first game while Kentucky was playing its third game in three days.
- The refs were against Kentucky.
- Florida fans don’t actually like basketball.
- This Kentucky squad isn’t very good.
- Florida is just fortunate to have a once-in-a-generation frontcourt.
The last two are comical, considering Kentucky went all-in this season on a $22 million roster. It’s Kentucky that went out of its way to poach Denzel Aberdeen from Florida.
And now that they haven’t gotten the return on investment they were hoping for, they are forced to turn into sour grapes. It continues a theme, though, that we started pushing after last year’s national title, and are going to continue to push if Florida makes another deep run in March Madness:
Florida is a modern Blue Blood.
Kentucky seems to think it has this birthright to be the only team in the SEC that’s good at basketball because the Wildcats were dominant during the days of black and white TV. But since 2000, Florida has had more Final Four appearances and more national titles than Kentucky.
When faced with the truth, Kentucky fans have been relegated to looking the other way.
It’s okay, because if it’s lonely at the top, then Florida would rather be alone.