Grade This Season

What Grade Does Mark Pope Deserve?

  • A

    Votes: 7 2.6%
  • B

    Votes: 5 1.9%
  • C

    Votes: 26 9.7%
  • D

    Votes: 117 43.5%
  • F

    Votes: 114 42.4%

  • Total voters
    269

wldktz1

Senior
Dec 12, 2013
1,628
958
113
Last decade has been a friggin F-. This shitshow we watched this season better be the low point. I, like a lot of fans, am at a crossroads. I won’t settle for mediocrity. No excuse for this damn pitiful collection of athletes. I don’t care if a single one of these losers comes back. I really don’t think any of them are deserving. It’s going to take a massive turnaround for me to ever climb back of this bandwagon of losers. Geezus H Christ, who hired this bum? Who put together this pitiful group that has no heart, no pride. I’ve never witnessed such a pitiful basketball season as this one.
Do you think it’s fair to say that Cal kind of messed things up leaving like he did? What other choice did Pope have in the time frame to assemble his first team? Even then year two is likely to be rough losing the seniors. Losing Butler last year was a devastating blow to the team.
 

ChiefPaducah

Senior
Nov 18, 2025
276
483
62
I gave it a C and that might be grading on a curve. We made the tournament and (barely) won a game so I wouldn’t grade it F. But to get anything over a C you have to make it to that second weekend. Overwise we were average.
 
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AllBall

All-American
May 5, 2015
4,361
5,548
93
Coaching/Roster mngt.-F

Only player I was thoroughly disappointed in was Jasper Johnson. He didn't improve and continues to play like it's AND1 mixtape basketball. He'd do a step back on a breakaway dunk.
 

Wunky

Heisman
Jan 16, 2021
4,340
17,997
78
It’s an F and anyone saying otherwise is either a troll fan of another school, or a child who is too young to know what UK is supposed to look like.

In no universe should UK ever be 19 points worse than Iowa State in an NCAA tournament game.

In no universe should UK ever be playing on Wednesday at the SEC Tournament.

In no universe should UK’s starting PG be a kid like Jaland Lowe (not UK material, sorry. He’s about as good as Ryan Harrow.) and you don’t even have a capable backup for when he inevitably goes down because he’s a twig.

Very seldom (like once every 2 decades) should UK lose 4 home games in a season.

F is for failure, and that’s what this season was. And as fun as last season was, we didn’t really accomplish anything meaningful then, either.
 
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Hunting9

Junior
Oct 30, 2025
151
320
63
If ‘G’ was an option I would have given it a G. Pope was pathetic, the assistants were pathetic, the players were pathetic, and I’m not even convinced that the student managers were all that good either.
 
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RobEStacy

Senior
May 21, 2007
847
799
93
D.... Injuries only thing that kept it from being a F.... Would ha e liked to see the whole team play, no injuries.... The other PG not decommiting. Part of me looks at last year and is like..... That was fun... Injuries killed last year...... So.... Is what we saw for the vast majority of last year what pope can do..... Or is this what he can do..
 

Tim0808

All-Conference
Apr 4, 2013
695
1,118
93
Do you think it’s fair to say that Cal kind of messed things up leaving like he did? What other choice did Pope have in the time frame to assemble his first team? Even then year two is likely to be rough losing the seniors. Losing Butler last year was a devastating blow to the team.
Yes, it is all Cal's fault. Pope had nothing to do with this. The only reason Billy G failed was because of Cal.
 

BlueSince92

All-Conference
Jul 2, 2025
10,459
2,798
230
It was a D.

I don't think you can call it an F when we swept with Tennessee and beat St. John's, Indiana, and Arkansas. Were starting to look pretty good in SEC play too before Kam went down.

But Kam did go down. Quaintance became Shaedon Sharpe 2.0, we lost at least a few games strictly due to our substitution patterns, and we've got to be pegging the meter for the most embarrassing recruiting famine in the history of college basketball. I don't really see how you can call it above a D either.
 

Cerberus

Freshman
Mar 17, 2026
49
58
18
My only reason for a D were the wins we had over Tennessee, Indiana, Arkansas, and of course Ricky and St John’s.
 

OliverSimmonsTwinBrother

All-Conference
Feb 3, 2025
1,367
4,494
113
F. 20 million plus for 14 loses.
Same issues as last year in coaching and motivation only somehow magnified.

Overall I litterally hated this team and Pope. We didn't play a good game all season long.
 

Wayne Dougan

Senior
Aug 11, 2025
306
976
93
For UK's standards, I think it's good to define what the grading scale is. Historically, I think an "average" season is us earning a 3 seed and making it to the sweet 16. I actually put a lot of importance on the regular season because the tournament can be fluky, especially once you get to the Elite 8. Not exactly MECI, but you get the idea:
  • A+ = Win Championship or Top 4 Team that makes the Finals
  • A = Top 4 Team & Elite 8
  • A- = Top 4 Team & Sweet 16
  • B = Top 8 Team & Elite 8
  • B- = Top 8 Team & Sweet 16
  • C+ = Top 12 Team & Sweet 16
  • C = Top 12 Team & Round of 32 or Top 25 Team & Sweet 16
  • C- = Top 25 Team & Round of 32
  • D = Top 35 Team & Round of 32
  • D- = Top 40 Team & Makes Tournament
  • F= Didn't make Tournament
So this year is around the D to D- range.
 
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Dward13

All-Conference
Feb 5, 2008
10,170
1,505
72
S tier: 1996, 2012, 1998, 1997, 2015, 1993
A tier: 1995, 2003, 2010, 2011, 2005, 2017, 2014, 1992
B tier: 2004, 2019, 2020, 1994, 1999, 2016
C tier: 2018, 2025, 2022, 2001, 2002, 2024, 2000, 2023, 2026, 2006, 2007, 2008
D tier: 2013, 2009,
F tier: 2021

I can’t justifiably grade a seaosn in which we made the tournament lower than a C. Which is where I have both of Mark Popes seasons solely based on results and not accounting for circumstances.

C tier to is basically “nothing to be excited about, but could have been worse”.
 
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Dward13

All-Conference
Feb 5, 2008
10,170
1,505
72
Finishing 9th in the SEC, and exiting the 2nd round is not a C by Kentucky standards.

I gave it C. But it’s like a C-

My reasoning: Missing the tourney is a D. But even then theres different levels of that. There’s barely missing the tourney (2013, 2009) and then theres 2021 which would be an F. They all sucked. But before Noel got hurt in 2013 there was hope. We started 1-6 or something like in 2021 and there were never any delusions of that team accomplishing anything the rest of the season. To me thst is what an all systems fail looks like and what I reserve an F grade for.
 

Goingfor9

All-Conference
Jan 27, 2003
16,036
2,811
113
F! Money spent and beautiful Ferrari BS
A Ferrari wrapped around a telephone pole. Our program is finished. Barney screwed us bigtime big friggin time. Our pathetic media let him do it. Where was Tipton throughout Barney’s career? Journalists in Lexington have failed to let Barney squat accomplish nothing and take a mil a year to do more nothing
 
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Wayne Dougan

Senior
Aug 11, 2025
306
976
93
Recruiting a “C”? Did you fat finger that one and miss the F key?

We were ranked 7th in the nation in recruiting and that didn't include transfers, which hurt us from an injury perspective. If you want to see an F, watch to see what happens this year.