Why are there so many delusional Pope fans?

FatCatMan · Mar 8, 2026

What the heck is going on with this fanbase? Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook along with other forums are filled with foolish nonsense blindly claiming “Pope is the right man for the job” despite the complete embarrassment he has wrought upon this program.

When did so many Kentucky fans become this way? This endless toxic positivity is destroying this program and they don’t give a flying hoot what is happening.

Not only do these fans appear to endlessly demand positivity from themselves, but from any fan who refuses to fall in line. They’re quick to insult other Kentucky fans, many falling to calling their fellow fans redneck yokels with too high expectations. I’ve seen it on here and I’m seeing it on other fan-pages and sites. WTF has happened to Kentucky fans? It’s like we’re in a civil war.

Ridinwithpope · Mar 9, 2026

Well we can blame cal for the reason behind the civil war feeling. Many thought he should stay and many thought he should go. You have the Pope effect because of what Pope did last year. He forbids to a sweet 16 when we hadn’t done it in 5 years. Probably elite 8 if Robinson was healthy. Last year his team was actually fun to watch because of their offense. Though filled with injuries, we won huge games and most against top 25 teams in school history. We finished as a 3 seed in the deepest conference the sport had ever seen. My main point is that Pope deserves one more chance because of what he did last year. He had 0 players coming in and had to fill a roster out in only a couple of weeks.
I agree with you that this year has been a disaster!!! However, it has been good enough to make the tournament. Cal missed the tournament twice!!! Is it Kentucky level of success yet.. no and far from it. But the season isn’t over yet. His record is 1-1 off of two years. We got to see what he does in year 3. If it’s a year like this one… we have to let him go.

20MRoster · Mar 9, 2026

FatCatMan said:
What the heck is going on with this fanbase? Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook along with other forums are filled with foolish nonsense blindly claiming “Pope is the right man for the job” despite the complete embarrassment he has wrought upon this program.

When did so many Kentucky fans become this way? This endless toxic positivity is destroying this program and they don’t give a flying hoot what is happening.

Not only do these fans appear to endlessly demand positivity from themselves, but from any fan who refuses to fall in line. They’re quick to insult other Kentucky fans, many falling to calling their fellow fans redneck yokels with too high expectations. I’ve seen it on here and I’m seeing it on other fan-pages and sites. WTF has happened to Kentucky fans? It’s like we’re in a civil war.

It's definitely a mystery to those of us who see what's happening to the program, but the number of these toxic pumpers is decreasing. This board used to be split, now it's a vast majority that feel this needs to end. UK fans know ball, and we can't be conned for long. And that's another thing -- a lot of those toxic people are probably trolls.

Tri-Countycat · Mar 9, 2026

20MRoster said:
It's definitely a mystery to those of us who see what's happening to the program, but the number of these toxic pumpers is decreasing. This board used to be split, now it's a vast majority that feel this needs to end. UK fans know ball, and we can't be conned for long. And that's another thing -- a lot of those toxic people are probably trolls.

Speaking of being conned. I may be wrong but IMO that is what Pope has purposely done all year with JQ and now with Kam. Pope and some of the media has dangled the carrot of them coming back and playing just to appease the fan base and give them hope in spite of the uninspiring play.

Ukwazoo3 · Mar 9, 2026

It's either trolls, casuals (your aunt or grandma), or small-time social media people that use it for engagement with the casuals. None of it is with knowledge AND sincerity.

I’m The Village Idiot · Mar 9, 2026

OP -- my question would be "what did they say their reasons were for believing Pope is the right man for the job?" Until you begin to understand the rationale for why they continue to say that, you're really just pearl clutching. Why does it harm you if someone has a different opinion?

Now, for me, I can't say "Pope is the right man for the job." I genuinely do not know. His third year is crucial --- it will tell us a lot about how much effect injuries had this year and he won't be here without performing to Kentucky standards over the next several months.

And take-it-for-what-it's-worth, this type of shock and awe at fairly common opinions is something I told you all would happen on here for weeks. On this site, you've silenced every opinion that doesn't conform to the one the vocal majority have. Well, now you've isolated yourself from the real world and real discussions. The irony is I'm viewed as a pro-Pope poster on here, but in the real world, I fall somewhere on the more critical side of things. This is why we need more discussion on here, rather than trying to coerce everyone into agreeing with the majority opinion. It'll never harm a soul to see what another person sees.

UKWildcats1987 · Mar 9, 2026

They don't know anything about college basketball. That's the issue.

UKBB4Ever · Mar 9, 2026

Ridinwithpope said:
Well we can blame cal for the reason behind the civil war feeling. Many thought he should stay and many thought he should go. You have the Pope effect because of what Pope did last year. He forbids to a sweet 16 when we hadn’t done it in 5 years. Probably elite 8 if Robinson was healthy. Last year his team was actually fun to watch because of their offense. Though filled with injuries, we won huge games and most against top 25 teams in school history. We finished as a 3 seed in the deepest conference the sport had ever seen. My main point is that Pope deserves one more chance because of what he did last year. He had 0 players coming in and had to fill a roster out in only a couple of weeks.
I agree with you that this year has been a disaster!!! However, it has been good enough to make the tournament. Cal missed the tournament twice!!! Is it Kentucky level of success yet.. no and far from it. But the season isn’t over yet. His record is 1-1 off of two years. We got to see what he does in year 3. If it’s a year like this one… we have to let him go.

He quit last season too. He embarrassed UK last year too.

Every sign that this year was coming was there last season.

He got a pass because it was new. The team last year was never prepared. The team last year didn’t play defense or rebound.

The team last year was not in condition.

And none of it has anything to do with Cal except to use as just another excuse.

Pope doesn’t deserve anything except to be fired.

What kind of UK fan wants more of this?

Dr.LutherSan · Mar 9, 2026

As cheesy and corny as Mark Pope is, he is still a very likable person, beloved former player from a great era, and truly cares about the success of the PROGRAM. The Pope Hopefuls see all of that and are starting to blindly care more about him succeeding than the actual program.

UKGrad24 · Mar 9, 2026

Facebook is the last place you gauge UK fans. Those are mainly just Facebook moms and grandparents. They have no idea other than he’s a nice man. People I know on twitter are done with it, not sure about that.

We were really sold hard on pope by the administration. He’s the cover up hire for the JMI debacle imo and also Barnhart wanted a control hire on his way out. It blew up on him and he had to retire early. All you need to know is the media is hitting pope hard and most UK fans are sick of it, ones that matter anyway. There’s some that are riding for next year because they think he’s getting it anyway. After the mess begins next season it’s gonna go downhill fast. Once espn begins to have heads talk about it, and they are, it’s not far off. Gillispie was also pumped hard during his second year, if you remember. Then it went off a cliff in months. I called for his firing at the beginning of year 2 and was blasted end to end here.

UKGrad24 · Mar 9, 2026

Dr.LutherSan said:
As cheesy and corny as Mark Pope is, he is still a very likable person, beloved former player from a great era, and truly cares about the success of the PROGRAM. The Pope Hopefuls see all of that and are starting to blindly care more about him succeeding than the actual program.

I grow so tired of this.

If people would just always keep their eyes on the program instead of attaching a man’s face to it, then we’d have it. That’s what I do, I never attach a face to the program. It’s separate. In my mind UK is made up of all the men from the last 100 years, if there’s a face on it, it’s Rupps.

We see this is politics routinely.

dckala2_ · Mar 9, 2026

Injury excuses aside, popes mind numbing substitution patterns are grounds enough for firing.

I’m The Village Idiot · Mar 9, 2026

Almost every post ^ Well, the only possible explanation is they feel this way because "they are extremely dumb", "hate the program / are trolls" or "like him because he is nice." These types of ad hominem are the result of logical fallacies called "bulverism" and/or "poisoning the well." I'd say most of the people with these opinions have various reasons, many of which are debatable and rational.

JwUKFan11 · Mar 9, 2026

I’m The Village Idiot said:
OP -- my question would be "what did they say their reasons were for believing Pope is the right man for the job?" Until you begin to understand the rationale for why they continue to say that, you're really just pearl clutching. Why does it harm you if someone has a different opinion?

Now, for me, I can't say "Pope is the right man for the job." I genuinely do not know. His third year is crucial --- it will tell us a lot about how much effect injuries had this year and he won't be here without performing to Kentucky standards over the next several months.

And take-it-for-what-it's-worth, this type of shock and awe at fairly common opinions is something I told you all would happen on here for weeks. On this site, you've silenced every opinion that doesn't conform to the one the vocal majority have. Well, now you've isolated yourself from the real world and real discussions. The irony is I'm viewed as a pro-Pope poster on here, but in the real world, I fall somewhere on the more critical side of things. This is why we need more discussion on here, rather than trying to coerce everyone into agreeing with the majority opinion. It'll never harm a soul to see what another person sees.

It’s not that these “fans” simply have another opinion and we can’t understand it. It’s that at one time UK basketball had a standard that if wasn’t met or wasn’t even come close to being met there was an anger by a majority of fans. That has diminished and the biggest reasons are Mitch lowering standards by his hires, contracts, and not having anyone to hold him accountable. And also this softness the fanbase feels towards Pope because he’s this nice former player who also is religious. All these things have made some of this fanbase soft and I personally believe you are one of them. You can’t say if Pope is the right man for the job? Really? After what we have seen so far you STILL are not convinced? Damn that 3rd year you and these soft *** fans think is the deciding factor.

I’m The Village Idiot · Mar 9, 2026

JwUKFan11 said:
It’s not that these “fans” simply have another opinion and we can’t understand it. It’s that at one time UK basketball had a standard that if wasn’t met or wasn’t even come close to being met there was an anger by a majority of fans. That has diminished and the biggest reasons are Mitch lowering standards by his hires, contracts, and not having anyone to hold him accountable. And also this softness the fanbase feels towards Pope because he’s this nice former player who also is religious. All these things have made some of this fanbase soft and I personally believe you are one of them. You can’t say if Pope is the right man for the job? Really? After what we have seen so far you STILL are not convinced? Damn that 3rd year you and these soft *** fans think is the deciding factor.

No, I'm not personally convinced one way or the other just yet. I could lie to you all and we could all "agree" on it. The truth is I'm very frustrated with Pope, but I'm not certain one way or the other on his future. I do understand the rationale of people who are fully on board with Pope and I also understand why people want to see the guy a million miles away from Lexington. The question is what do we do with this information? You're going to have to decide that I am either completely incompetent, a literal troll who hates the program or someone who likes the coach because he is nice according to the logic espoused in this thread. I think that's a shame.

UKGrad24 · Mar 9, 2026

I’m The Village Idiot said:
Almost every post ^ Well, the only possible explanation is they feel this way because "they are extremely dumb", "hate the program / are trolls" or "like him because he is nice." These types of ad hominem are the result of logical fallacies called "bulverism" and/or "poisoning the well." I'd say most of the people with these opinions have various reasons, many of which are debatable and rational.

Except Facebook. Some of those pages man, they’re out there. But it’s just family people who like the coaches, it’s really just coach fan type People who form those pages when they see what they deem are attacks to show support. A lot of those pages aren’t about wins and losses, it’s supporting someone they feel are being awful to the guy. They’re not dumb many are nice people, I think that’s why they do it. They don’t like it. But again, they aren’t really forming those groups with the program in mind or winning or any of that. It’s so there’s a space to show support for the guy.

UKGrad24 · Mar 9, 2026

dckala2_ said:
Injury excuses aside, popes mind numbing substitution patterns are grounds enough for firing.

I’ve wondered and I don’t know if it’s been discussed. You’ve got bizarre statements about being tired in the first half. Crazy subs. Stuff we’ve never seen. I wonder if he lost the team completely and they didn’t even practice much. Maybe they spent all their time at the mall. I actually hope so for pope’s sake. If not he must be subbing on perks.

I’m The Village Idiot · Mar 9, 2026

UKGrad24 said:
Except Facebook. Some of those pages man, they’re out there. But it’s just family people who like the coaches, it’s really just coach fan type People who form those pages when they see what they deem are attacks to show support. A lot of those pages aren’t about wins and losses, it’s supporting someone they feel are being awful to the guy. They’re not dumb many are nice people, I think that’s why they do it. They don’t like it. But again, they aren’t really forming those groups with the program in mind or winning or any of that. It’s so there’s a space to show support for the guy.

Oh, I don't doubt that there can be a large contingent of Facebook fans who trend elderly and like him because he's nice. But I'd wager there are plenty who support him for a myriad of reasons. You're no dummy --- you know that already. I think it's just easier to form a collective hivemind and laugh at those outside the bubble without having to give it much thought. Take this thread for example, OP posts asking why people are supporting Pope. Do you think he really wants to know this information? Read closer. This is a pearl clutching thread so that you all can dunk on the "enemies." Zero desire to actually engage.

Ridinwithpope · Mar 9, 2026

UKBB4Ever said:
He quit last season too. He embarrassed UK last year too.

Every sign that this year was coming was there last season.

He got a pass because it was new. The team last year was never prepared. The team last year didn’t play defense or rebound.

The team last year was not in condition.

And none of it has anything to do with Cal except to use as just another excuse.

Pope doesn’t deserve anything except to be fired.

What kind of UK fan wants more of this?

Well as much as you may think Cal is just an excuse, I would say many pope supporters feel that Cal set a benchmark to be compared to. We still talk about it today on whether we should have kept Cal or not. The fact that in year 1, Pope did better than almost half of the years tenured by Cal speaks volumes. Yes we were deficient in rebounding and defense last year, but that was against the greatest conference in college basketball history. Heck, it took a sec team to knock them out of the tournament. What do you mean by not being prepared? They won more top 15 matchups in school history!! Aren’t beating rivals important? He has beaten Duke, cal, Pitino, Tennessee 4 times, and Louisville. How is that embarrassing? This year sucked… I get it. But don’t you think if we were fully healthy, we do not best at least one of the Georgia, Auburn, or Texas a&m games? We lost because our bench sucks due to injuries. If we get 1 of those, we are playing on Friday. Is that really embarrassing? He gets one more year because of last years success and getting us to a sweet 16 which we hadn’t done in 5 years. Heck, he might do it again this year… the season is still going. I choose to have hope and as a fellow Kentucky fan, I hope you do too.

UKGrad24 · Mar 9, 2026

I’m The Village Idiot said:
Oh, I don't doubt that there can be a large contingent of Facebook fans who trend elderly and like him because he's nice. But I'd wager there are plenty who support him for a myriad of reasons. You're no dummy --- you know that already. I think it's just easier to form a collective hivemind and laugh at those outside the bubble without having to give it much thought. Take this thread for example, OP posts asking why people are supporting Pope. Do you think he really wants to know this information? Read closer. This is a pearl clutching thread so that you all can dunk on the "enemies." Zero desire to actually engage.

Going off history, some people see the support and can’t understand it. You look around outside of rafters and see wild support in places and it’s like? What is this?

As I’ve said Rafters has always been for the more program oriented fan, die hards, who put coaches on short leashes. I think it’s always been the best place for Kentucky basketball, but it’s changed over the years as in softer believe it or not. If this was 2002, this board and a lot of the older posters who’ve died wouldn’t have any idea how anyone involved in this has kept their job. This was the first place I saw that called Tubby early on, Calipari early, and Gillispie. When we called Gillispie you would have thought rafters was out of their minds. He was gone 8 months later. Might seem crazy but rafters usually feels what’s coming before it does. Honestly does.

RationalFan · Mar 9, 2026

I wouldn't say it is being delusional to think a coach should get 3 years especially given the injuries. Pope made a huge mistake this year with his roster construction, if he can't learn and fix that in year 3 then it is time to go. I would say that the fans that want a coach fired before he has even completed 2 years are the delusional ones.

I’m The Village Idiot · Mar 9, 2026

UKGrad24 said:
Going off history, some people see the support and can’t understand it. You look around outside of rafters and see wild support in places and it’s like? What is this?

As I’ve said Rafters has always been for the more program oriented fan, die hards, who put coaches on short leashes. I think it’s always been the best place for Kentucky basketball, but it’s changed over the years as in softer believe it or not. If this was 2002, this board and a lot of the older posters who’ve died wouldn’t have any idea how anyone involved in this has kept their job. This was the first place I saw that called Tubby early on, Calipari early, and Gillispie. When we called Gillispie you would have thought rafters was out of their minds. He was gone 8 months later. Might seem crazy but rafters usually feels what’s coming before it does. Honestly does.

As a fellow hardcore fan, I feel that. And maybe that's why I like this place so much. I am one of the criminally online, live and die by the results of the game type of people who think about basketball all the time. We can still be that hardcore place, still call it as it is and still have room to understand people more than "they're dumb", "they're trolls" or "they like him because he's nice." Truthfully, if Nitro or Cowboy posted this same thread but it was saying the opposite, people would be up in arms. And FWIW, I wouldn't support a thread saying that everyone who doesn't support the coach is "dumb", a "troll" or hates him because of his personality. I respect the Morgs, and the jedwars and the 20M Rosters and the Son of Sauls too much to do that. We ignore that this type of thing is "pearl clutching" or "sanctimonious" in this thread, but if I articulate too delicately, I'll be called Mr. Rogers or Full House. Make it make sense.

TotheMoon88 · Mar 9, 2026

I’m The Village Idiot said:
Almost every post ^ Well, the only possible explanation is they feel this way because "they are extremely dumb", "hate the program / are trolls" or "like him because he is nice." These types of ad hominem are the result of logical fallacies called "bulverism" and/or "poisoning the well." I'd say most of the people with these opinions have various reasons, many of which are debatable and rational.

Why does he need a third year? He’s shown what he is, this is an average season for him. Theres 12 years worth of coaching to look at from him. He’s never going to be anything more than mediocre

TotheMoon88 · Mar 9, 2026

RationalFan said:
I wouldn't say it is being delusional to think a coach should get 3 years especially given the injuries. Pope made a huge mistake this year with his roster construction, if he can't learn and fix that in year 3 then it is time to go. I would say that the fans that want a coach fired before he has even completed 2 years are the delusional ones.

What’s your main account?

JakeKx · Mar 9, 2026

They’re plants and bots. They sign NDAs and post stuff online to try to change the narrative.
There’s no world in which a true Kentucky basketball fan would be okay with this and want anyone within that basketball program back here next year.

I’m The Village Idiot · Mar 9, 2026

TotheMoon88 said:
Why does he need a third year? He’s shown what he is, this is an average season for him. Theres 12 years worth of coaching to look at from him. He’s never going to be anything more than mediocre

Pope isn't the one who needs a third year --- I do. I think Pope fully believes he will turn this around, just like almost every other coach in the country. Coaches always think they will fix it. If Pope left today, I'd probably be relieved frankly. But he's getting a third year regardless, so I need to see if he can work here. Before this year, I'd have said we have our coach. Well, today things are different. I have no certainty of anything.

@Rockhill2025 · Mar 9, 2026

He may not be the answer but just last year we were singing his praises. Let him have a year three. He got blindsided with injury this year. It's too soon to pack his bags.

RationalFan · Mar 9, 2026

TotheMoon88 said:
Why does he need a third year? He’s shown what he is, this is an average season for him. Theres 12 years worth of coaching to look at from him. He’s never going to be anything more than mediocre

Why did this coach get not only a 3rd year but also a 4th year? 1st year 16-17, 2nd year 19-12, 3rd year 15-8, 4th year 23-10, 5th year 31-8 won a title, 6th year 37-3 won another title. Did his first 3 years show "who he is" was he destined to be nothing more than mediocre after is first 2 years? He deserves a 3rd year, because he made a roster mistake this year, if he can't fix things in his 3rd year it is time to move on. What would you have UK do fire every coach after 2 years until we get one that can make a Final Four in year 2?

JimboBBN · Mar 9, 2026

I’m The Village Idiot said:
OP -- my question would be "what did they say their reasons were for believing Pope is the right man for the job?" Until you begin to understand the rationale for why they continue to say that, you're really just pearl clutching. Why does it harm you if someone has a different opinion?

Now, for me, I can't say "Pope is the right man for the job." I genuinely do not know. His third year is crucial --- it will tell us a lot about how much effect injuries had this year and he won't be here without performing to Kentucky standards over the next several months.

And take-it-for-what-it's-worth, this type of shock and awe at fairly common opinions is something I told you all would happen on here for weeks. On this site, you've silenced every opinion that doesn't conform to the one the vocal majority have. Well, now you've isolated yourself from the real world and real discussions. The irony is I'm viewed as a pro-Pope poster on here, but in the real world, I fall somewhere on the more critical side of things. This is why we need more discussion on here, rather than trying to coerce everyone into agreeing with the majority opinion. It'll never harm a soul to see what another person sees.

Just my take. The folks who post on RR or any other message board, are typically bigger basketball fans than people who don’t. You have to think, we are individuals who have sought out further and at hand discussions with fellow UK fans to talk UK sports. There is a level of passion and enthusiasm here you don’t see from your “average” fans. What I’m getting at, most fans that post on here are going to be more emotional and invested. A loss for UK basketball is probably harder on folks here than it is for some random guy that watches at home and goes about his night afterwards.

I don’t like the personal insults towards Pope. He is still and always will be a Cat. But I totally get why UK fans, especially the ones that gather online, feel the way they do about Marks coaching and results to this point.

TotheMoon88 · Mar 9, 2026

RationalFan said:
Why did this coach get not only a 3rd year but also a 4th year? 1st year 16-17, 2nd year 19-12, 3rd year 15-8, 4th year 23-10, 5th year 31-8 won a title, 6th year 37-3 won another title. Did his first 3 years show "who he is" was he destined to be nothing more than mediocre after is first 2 years? He deserves a 3rd year, because he made a roster mistake this year, if he can't fix things in his 3rd year it is time to move on. What would you have UK do fire every coach after 2 years until we get one that can make a Final Four in year 2?

I don’t expect a final 4 in year 2 but I do expect improvement from year to year, kinda like what the coach you posted did. That coach also didn’t have the transfer portal or nil to rebuild with and the team he took over was coming off consecutive losing seasons. And yeah he made a roster mistake which shows he can’t evaluate talent,don’t know why you’d want to keep that guy around.

UKGrad24 · Mar 9, 2026

@Rockhill2025 said:
He may not be the answer but just last year we were singing his praises. Let him have a year three. He got blindsided with injury this year. It's too soon to pack his bags.

Okay the injury excuse really gets me. A few injuries one of which to a player who was improving but wasn’t all world is absurd to me. We’re likely going to be 19-14 with a few very lucky wins from being near a .500 team. Those injuries don’t account for that. This team was in turmoil with those guys. Again also we seemed to improve when the rotations shrank. So I just don’t get this, people go to final fours losing their best players. We didn’t come close to losing our best players. Just makes no sense. I don’t want to repeat it but I don’t mind, JQ does not count.

RationalFan · Mar 9, 2026

TotheMoon88 said:
I don’t expect a final 4 in year 2 but I do expect improvement from year to year, kinda like what the coach you posted did. That coach also didn’t have the transfer portal or nil to rebuild with and the team he took over was coming off consecutive losing seasons. And yeah he made a roster mistake which shows he can’t evaluate talent,don’t know why you’d want to keep that guy around.

I get so tired of that excuse, "that coach didn't have nil or the transfer portal" Before the transfer portal if UK had a coach that went 16-17, then 19-12, fans like you would have been calling for his head. And even with the transfer portal coaches can miss, like Pope did. Also you want to see improvement year to year, Pope hasn't finished his 2nd year yet, what if makes the Elite 8? Would that be enough improvement? We don't know what his 2nd year is going to end up being.

TotheMoon88 · Mar 9, 2026

RationalFan said:
I get so tired of that excuse, "that coach didn't have nil or the transfer portal" Before the transfer portal if UK had a coach that went 16-17, then 19-12, fans like you would have been calling for his head. And even with the transfer portal coaches can miss, like Pope did. Also you want to see improvement year to year, Pope hasn't finished his 2nd year yet, what if makes the Elite 8? Would that be enough improvement? We don't know what his 2nd year is going to end up being.

If we were coming off consecutive losing seasons probably not. We’ve seen what the 2nd year has been, elite 8 is not likely. This season has been a failure there’s no other way to say it. Are you blaming just the players for the results of this season? You do realize this is an average season for pope right?

TTTblue24 · Mar 9, 2026

He’s still making the same substitution patterns last year that made no sense at all again this year, we cut the lead to 20-19 then he subs and Fla goes on a 13-0 run……..why does he feel the need to sub when we have momentum?? That’s coaching you learn long before coming to a place like UK, then the game plans this year on occasions are like we watch no film at all.

JHBr · Mar 9, 2026

I'm as frustrated with Pope as anyone. I do see the injuries as both significant and a factor in the performance of the team this season. Starting point guard, potential lottery pick big and a 6th man. Most teams have not had this level of lost games.
That being said I don't understand the often lack of effort and the flip flop of playing well one game and poorly the next. Also, the substitution patterns are often momentum killers or worse. Pope is obviously the ultimate responsibility and if he wants to be here more than 3 years he needs to figure it out.
I have no hope we will make a run in the SEC or NCAA tournaments. Too inconsistent and not enough fortitude.

preacherfan · Mar 9, 2026

JimboBBN said:
Just my take. The folks who post on RR or any other message board, are typically bigger basketball fans than people who don’t. You have to think, we are individuals who have sought out further and at hand discussions with fellow UK fans to talk UK sports. There is a level of passion and enthusiasm here you don’t see from your “average” fans. What I’m getting at, most fans that post on here are going to be more emotional and invested. A loss for UK basketball is probably harder on folks here than it is for some random guy that watches at home and goes about his night afterwards.

I don’t like the personal insults towards Pope. He is still and always will be a Cat. But I totally get why UK fans, especially the ones that gather online, feel the way they do about Marks coaching and results to this point.

The group that is currently being left out of this discussion are truly the most important. What about the big money boosters who paid the $22 million? What about the crowd of UK fans who pay to travel to Nashville and see the SEC tournament even though UK is a 9 seed and most likely will win 2 games, at most? We can talk about "true fans" all day long but those who count are the ones who pay the money. I have no idea of how many fans will boycott Nashville or how many big money people will withold NIL money. The next week and transfer portal will answer a LOT of questions!

PacoGator · Mar 9, 2026

Because he is an alum

@Rockhill2025 · Mar 9, 2026

UKGrad24 said:
Okay the injury excuse really gets me. A few injuries one of which to a player who was improving but wasn’t all world is absurd to me. We’re likely going to be 19-14 with a few very lucky wins from being near a .500 team. Those injuries don’t account for that. This team was in turmoil with those guys. Again also we seemed to improve when the rotations shrank. So I just don’t get this, people go to final fours losing their best players. We didn’t come close to losing our best players. Just makes no sense. I don’t want to repeat it but I don’t mind, JQ does not count.

You can look at that in another way. Perhaps he struck out with the portal and the injuries but somehow made it into a saved season and pulled out enough wins to keep the dam from breaking

KYWC36 · Mar 9, 2026

Damage_inc · Mar 9, 2026

Some folks are just inherently optimistic. Just as some are pessimistic.

I remember back in the day when a guy called into the post game show after a loss and asked what Tubby was going to do to turn this thing around. I think we were like 22-4 at the time. Old boy thought the program was in the gutter because we lost a game.

Why are there so many delusional Pope fans?

All-Conference

Senior

All-Conference

All-Conference

All-Conference

Heisman

Heisman

All-Conference

All-American

All-American

All-American

Senior

Heisman

Heisman

Heisman

All-American

All-American

Heisman

Senior

All-American

Redshirt

Heisman

Senior

Senior

All-Conference

Heisman

Sophomore

Redshirt

Heisman

Senior

All-American

Redshirt

Senior

All-Conference

Junior

All-Conference

Heisman

Sophomore

All-Conference

Senior