Kentucky HC Mark Pope playfully asserts his dominance over Rick Pitino in a rapid fire round: "I'm going to have done it more and bigger and better"

Kentucky coach Mark Pope playfully asserted his dominance over St. John's bench tactician Rick Pitino, saying he's a bigger and better coach when it comes to spending for recruits.

Pope stressed this claim in Thursday's episode of the "Eye on College Basketball" podcast with CBS Sports analyst Matt Norlander. When he was asked in the show's lightning round about who spent more on their roster this season, the second-year Wildcats bench tactician had a quick-fire reply.

"It doesn't matter what question you ask me about Coach P," Pope said. (Timestamp 1:04:59). "I'm going to have done it more and bigger and better coach."

The relationship between Pope and Pitino as player and coach had gone a long way since the forward transferred to Kentucky from Washington in 1993. Pope was the team captain and Pitino called the shots for the 1995-96 Wildcats team, which claimed the national title in the 1996 NCAA Tournament.

Their teams will cross paths on Dec. 20 at the CBS Sports Classic in State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia and the 72-year-old Pitino compared the upcoming clash with Pope as similar to coaching a son.

“I think, it’s no different than coaching against your son, who obviously stirs different emotions,” Pitino told CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein. in Monday's episode of the "Inside College Basketball Now" podcast (Timestamp 14:42).

Pitino guided St. John's to the Big East regular season and tournament titles and was ranked No. 2 in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. However, the Red Storm's run was stopped in the second round after losing to John Calipari's Arkansas.

Meanwhile, Pope's Kentucky Wildcats advanced to the Midwest Regional as the No. 3 seed and won their first two matches against No. 14 Troy and No. 6 Illinois. Their surge was stalled in the Sweet 16 after losing to No. 2 seed Tennessee by 13 points.

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Mark Pope says it's harder to talk to the team than the media after a bad loss

Kentucky coach Mark Pope was asked by CBS Sports college basketball analyst Matt Norlander about which of the two is harder to address after a tough loss, the team or the media.

The 52-year-old bench tactician responded that addressing the players is more difficult than addressing the media because it's easy for the coach to go and take responsibility for everything.

"Here's the deal. It's just because when I address my team, they're all their guts are out on the floor," Pope said (Timestamp: 57:00). "And there's devastation in the locker room if we lose."

Kentucky aims to improve on its Sweet Sixteen finish last season, as Mark Pope assembled a solid lineup for the 2025-26 season. Top scorer Otega Oweh returns for his second season with the Wildcats, along with Trent Noah, Collin Chandler, Brandon Garrison, Zach Tow and Walker Horn.

They'll be reinforced by an elite high school and transfer class that ranked sixth in the nation per 24/7 Sports. The Wildcats acquired four-star high school recruits Jasper Johnson, Malachi Moreno, Braydon Hawthorne and Andrea Jelavic.

Pope also snapped up a highly-regarded transfer class led by former five-star center Jayden Quaintance. They also acquired Reece Potter, Denzel Aberdeen, Mouhamed Dioubate, Jaland Lowe and Kam Williams.

Kentucky opens its 2025-26 college basketball season with exhibition games against Purdue (Oct. 24) and Georgetown (Oct. 30). The Wildcats will start their regular season campaign a nonconference game against Nicholls State on Nov. 4.