Five. That is how many games Kentucky Basketball has lost by 20 or more points under Mark Pope.
The worrisome part is that it took Pope only 75 games to reach that number, credit to Corey Price.
The games in question:
- 2026-27: Kansas (89-69)
- 2025-26: Gonzaga (94-59), Vanderbilt (80-55)
- 2024-25: Alabama (99-70), Ohio State (85-65)
And with still nearly an entire season left, it feels like it’s not a matter of when, not if, Pope has more 20-point blowouts and breaks the record.
For comparison, John Calipari also had five 20-plus-point losses during his tenure at Kentucky, but did so in 533 games. Rick Pitino: Four
such losses in 269 games. Adolph Rupp coached the Wildcats for 41 seasons and only had seven such losses.
To dive even further, of those 75 games, Kentucky has trailed by double digits in 27 games, by 15-plus in 20 games, and by 20-plus in 13 games.
More points are being scored in basketball today than ever before, and college basketball is seeing a new level of parity, but the underlying sentiment still stands: Kentucky under Mark Pope has a concerning pattern of falling into double-digit deficits and losing by large margins faster than ever.
There is still a lot of basketball to be played this season, and this year’s roster has more talent than what they showed against Kansas. That talent has to translate to the court, and quickly, as they will play two top-10 opponents in the next month: Virginia and Louisville.
Win those games, and the criticism will quell, and the Wildcats will have momentum going into SEC play.
