This will be Mark Pope’s first season as the head basketball coach of the Kentucky Wildcats and his first time in the SEC.

The question is, where should Coach Pope be ranked among SEC coaches? Well, James Fletcher of On3 just ranked Coach Pope tenth in the SEC.

Here is Fletcher’s reasoning for ranking Pope tenth, “The former Kentucky standout faced a difficult task when asked to become head coach, taking over for a Hall of Famer without the resume of candidates thrown around in conversation. So far, he has done well to rally fans and hit the recruiting trail hard by engaging players and finding ways to stand out – something not difficult at 6’10. The fresh approach is fascinating and the blueprint for his roster is already clear, albeit different from the past regime. Ultimately, Pope will be judged on postseason success, the marker for any Kentucky head coach. His lack of NCAA Tournament wins to this point in his career leaves him outside the top group, but his new platform gives him every opportunity to land there.”

His reasoning is fair. Coach Pope is new to the SEC, and he doesn’t have any proven NCAA Tournament success. The good news is that this season at Kentucky, Coach Pope has the best roster he has ever had as a head coach.

His 2024-25 Kentucky roster is full of veteran players who have all played a lot of college basketball. If Coach Pope’s team has the season that many in Lexington believe they will, he will be much higher on this list ahead of next season. Coach Pope is going to prove a lot of people wrong this season when the Wildcat makes a deep run in March.