John Fanta is confident Mark Pope and Pat Kelsey 'wanna beat the hell out of one another'

The public comments have been nothing but positive and peaceful. Mark Pope says, “I love Pat, man. I actually love him. He’s a hard-driving, on it 24/7 guy. I love him, actually, and I’ve got a ton of respect for him.”

“I want to not like Mark, but it’s hard not to because he’s a really good dude,” Pat Kelsey said of his coaching rival.

The Kentucky vs. Louisville rivalry has stunk in recent years because the Cardinals have stunk. There has been no fire because there has been no competition. That’s shifting with Pope and Kelsey in charge, UK vs. UofL on November 11 expected to be a top 10 matchup inside the KFC Yum! Center.

“Louisville is picking it up, which is so awesome,” Pope said. “… It’s good for college basketball and it’s good for us.”

John Fanta‘s take? The NBC Sports broadcaster and Field of 68 contributor doesn’t buy any of it for a second. He sees through the love over war nonsense — and it appears there’s truth to that, considering Pope and Kelsey reportedly got into it outside a recruit’s apartment shortly after midnight a few weeks back.

In his eyes, the Kentucky and Louisville coaches want to kill each other, desperate to win the in-state arms race. And that’s exactly the way it should be, not the soft stuff we’ve been seeing publicly since they both took the job last offseason.

The tell? Kelsey’s Point Guard U comment on The Field of 68 last week, a delusional take unless your goal is to intentionally ruffle feathers.

“The Point Guard U comment — I instantly thought of John Wall, De’Aaron Fox, Rajon Rondo. We know Coach Cal has a good deal to do with this, but Kentucky developed that reputation for quite some time,” Fanta said. “What does this all mean? It means that Louisville and Kentucky — it’s always a rivalry. But the way these two programs are cooking now, the bad blood nationally is gonna be back and it’s gonna be back this year.

“Those two coaches, they can smile and wave however they want to toward each other publicly, but I can tell you right now, they wanna beat the hell out of one another.”

No need to take it personally, because it’s what the sport needs. College basketball is more enjoyable when Kentucky and Louisville hate each other. It’s what makes the world go round.

The offseason juice has only added to that intrigue, making it one of the most anticipated matchups of the non-conference schedule.

“It’s good for the sport of college basketball. Louisville-Kentucky is a destination game, maybe the No. 1 game if you were to look at non-conference games. You could argue that’s the No. 1 game heading into the season,” Fanta said. “We haven’t said that in quite some time and I’m fired up. I’m fired up. Who is gonna take it between those two teams? It’s now a recruiting game, it’s a money game, it’s a fan game, it’s a coach game. Those two coaches are on similar (levels), who is gonna land the punch here? Who lands the first big punch between Kelsey and Pope?”

They can play nice publicly, but we all know their real feelings. They’d push the other in front of a bus if it meant their program got the upper hand in the rivalry, and that’s a wonderful thing.

“Anybody who coaches at Louisville and Kentucky is a frenemy,” Fanta said. “You can be friends, but when push comes to shove, and the message boards are firing up, and there’s money on the line.”

Kentucky and Louisville both have the makings for a really special season. That means the rivalry between the Cardinals and Wildcats is about to REALLY move the needle nationally. Some thoughts on that + Kelsey vs. Pope: pic.twitter.com/UH63k2Z1mk

— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) September 18, 2025

Couldn’t agree more, Fanta.