Mark Pope made history in his debut season at Kentucky, leading the Wildcats to eight top-15 victories to tie an all-time NCAA record. Those were magical highs, starting with Duke in the Champions Classic, followed by Gonzaga, Florida, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Tennessee (twice) and Missouri, leading to the program’s first Sweet 16 since 2019. Feel-good boxes were checked in desperate times for a ravenous fanbase, resulting in a sky-high approval rating while dancing through the honeymoon period.
Year two? Yeah, not so much. These Wildcats are drowning with no rescue boat in sight, sitting at 9-6 on the year with a Quad 2 loss — it was a Quad 3 until Missouri jumped 15 spots in the NET to No.