Mark Pope expects Kentucky-Louisville rivalry to become 'heated'

The Kentucky–Louisville basketball rivalry entered a new era last season, with both programs picking up new head coaches. Alas, some fans complained that Kentucky head coach Mark Pope and Louisville’s Pat Kelsey were too kind to each other for the rivalry to meet its potential.

The pair traded compliments to one another throughout the season, and didn’t mimic a fraction of the heated hatred that was obvious between the two programs when John Calipari and Rick Pitino were the respective head coaches. On Thursday, Kentucky Sports Radio host Matt Jones jokingly requested for Pope to bring some of that fire back to the rivalry. In typical entertaining fashion, Pope obliged.

“I hate this Pat Kelsey and all of those Louisville fans! Hate ’em!” Pope said sarcastically. “What’s actually super cool is that I got a boatload of respect for Pat Kelsey. I think what he did last year was incredible. And, I mean, two of my [BYU] guys played for him last year.

“… I don’t have a ton of interaction with the Louisville fanbase, but I’m sure they’re great. But here’s the thing, the one thing I would say is that I actually think that this Kentucky-Louisville thing is just going to get heated and heated because it’s going to be back to being like [No.] 1 versus [No.] 4 in the country.”

Kentucky and Louisville are each expected to be some of the top teams in the country next season. In On3 college basketball expert James Fletcher III’s latest “way-too-early” 2025-26 college basketball rankings, he ranked Kentucky No. 4 and Louisville No. 9.

It’s not a stretch to assume that both programs will be successful next season. Pope and Kelsey each reeled in impressive transfer classes this offseason, while proving themselves in their debut campaigns.

The Wildcats finished last season with a 24-12 record while Louisville posted a 27-8 mark. Alas, the Cardinals’ superior record didn’t help them in the NCAA Tournament when they fell to Creighton in the first round. Kentucky lost to Tennessee in the Sweet Sixteen.

Most importantly, Kentucky won the teams’ annual matchup in 93-85 fashion. However, Mark Pope and Co. won’t have home-court advantage this season and will have to travel into a hostile KFC Yum! Center. When Matt Jones suggested that Cardinals fans would welcome Pope to the arena with some choice words, the 52-year-old head coach provided a tongue-in-cheek response.

“They would never!” Pope said with a smile on his face. “They would not do that.”

Kentucky and Louisville will square off on Nov. 11 in the upcoming season. It will be the earliest in a season that the two teams have ever met.