'People Outside Of Kentucky Will Just Never Understand' - Nothing Warms My Heart Like Hearing Mark Pope Explain Why No Other Program In The Country Compares To UK

For most of us, today is just a normal Tuesday. You're dealing with some rain, the weather starting to turn to fall finally, the hangover of 5 days of football. But me? Oh, it just got better, because I'm reminded that 1) college basketball is rapidly approaching and 2) I have the gift of being a Kentucky fan and with that I get Mark Pope as my head coach. We know Mark Pope will get into verbal spats with Pat Kelsey if he has to: 

Nobody gets it more than Mark Pope. Nobody understands what to say, how to build this program back where it should be like Mark Pope. Oh, it's also true since he's talking about bringing the most beautiful jerseys in the world back. Denim. 

Doug Pensinger. Getty Images.

And now we have him talking about expectations. He's not wrong. The expectation is to be in the title conversation every single year, no matter who is on the roster, who is healthy. We don't concern ourselves with any other program in the country because every other program has to use us as the measuring stick. When Kentucky loses, it's headline news. When we win, it's business as usual. We're not being cocky or anything like that, we're just saying the truth like Mark Pope is here. There's not a college basketball program in the country with the expectations, the insane fandom and the backing like Kentucky. 

He's right. If you're not a Kentucky fan, you don't understand it. You don't understand the feeling of being everyone's Super Bowl. You don't understand the feeling of championship or bust every year. You don't understand what it means to walk into Rupp Arena, see the legendary jerseys in the rafters, the banners and what this program means to all of us. Mark Pope gets it and that's why Mark Pope is the perfect man for this job. Now get me to the season and let's go get 9.