Anonymous coach says Mark Pope 'would have to be a complete bozo' to not win title at Kentucky soon

Just how good is this Kentucky basketball roster — and the program’s financial situation to help build it, along with the ones to come? Opposing coaches believe Mark Pope would have to really, really mess up to miss the assignment of banner No. 9 in the near future, whether that’s this season or soon after.

We already knew this roster was among the most expensive in college basketball this season with an alleged $20 million price tag floating around this offseason — or “close to $200 million,” if you want to believe Pope. With that comes a target on the program’s back, though. If you’re gonna pay for the best team in the sport, you had better win at the highest level, especially when other coaches and programs don’t have the same resources at their fingertips.

They’re strong in that stance, to put it lightly.

 “Since UK can do things no other school can financially, he would have to be a complete bozo to not win one soon,” one coach told CBS Sports.

It’s part of the outlet’s Candid Coaches series, which has now featured anonymous quotes on the best team in college basketball, best player, best coaching hire in 2025, what percentage of school’s revenue sharing should go to men’s basketball, the level of trust competitors will follow new recruiting rules and, controversially, the best X’s and O’s coach — a list that did not feature Mark Pope.

This one, which asks which college basketball coach will be next to win their first NCAA Tournament title, the Kentucky head coach finished fourth overall in a poll of nearly 100 coaches sharing their opinions. Of those ahead of Pope? Kelvin Sampson at Houston, Matt Painter at Purdue and Jon Scheyer at Duke.

• Kelvin Sampson, Houston – 38%
• Matt Painter, Purdue – 26%
• Jon Scheyer, Duke – 16%
• Mark Pope, Kentucky – 6%

Others receiving multiple votes: Nate Oats (Alabama), Tommy Lloyd (Arizona), Dusty May (Michigan), Grant McCasland (Texas Tech)

Some of the other anonymous quotes on Kentucky’s top competitiors in college basketball:

Kelvin Sampson

• “I am locked in to Kelvin Sampson since I think they are the team to beat this year.”
• “He was obviously a possession away last year. He has a really good blend of young talent and retention of important pieces. This is the year he gets it done.”

Matt Painter

• “Fully loaded roster with experience. He’s been in every position possible from losing in the first round to making the championship game. He’s getting it done this season.”

Jon Scheyer

• “I think they’re always going to be in play for the top talent in the country. They’ll always have what you hope to have to compete for a national championship, first and foremost, but I also think he’s a pretty good coach and leader. As a young head coach, he’s got the ‘It’ factor. He’s set up to be next. And it’s Duke.”

What did Matt Norlander of CBS Sports have to say about Pope and the Wildcats for this exercise? He called it a surprise that the Kentucky head coach finished fourth, considering he didn’t personally receive any Pope votes, but the pieces are there to make things interesting.

“Pope hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament game until this year, but being at Kentucky does give him rocket fuel to get one — and ideally have the roster in the next few years to have a shot,” he wrote.

I comfortably agree that Pope will be getting a national championship in the near future, potentially even this season. I comfortably disagree that Pope belongs in a sentence attaching his name to “complete bozo.” Feels like an unnecessary shot from a jealous coach without the same resources.