Kentucky can take over No. 1 spot in SEC with a win at Florida, but Mark Pope is focused on the end goal

Kentucky controls its own destiny for the SEC regular season title with a win on Saturday, sitting right behind Florida in the standings at No. 2 and ready to own head-to-head tiebreakers against the Gators and Arkansas Razorbacks. There is a long way to go with three weeks left until the SEC Tournament bracket is finalized, but you’d rather be on top and looking down than trying to fight and claw your way back into serious contention down the stretch.

Otega Oweh didn’t shy away from what’s on the line in Gainesville, embracing the challenge of the top-25 matchup on Valentine’s Day.

“We’re expecting a dogfight going into Gainesville. … I’m just excited for those types of games,” he told SEC Now this week. “That’s going to be — I mean, we’re playing for that top spot. So it’s going to be a really good one.”

What is his head coach’s approach to the big-picture meaning behind the weekend matchup at the O’Dome? Focus on what’s in front of you with the single game, not the standings on February 14.

The only times the standings matter are March 8 and March 15 when both postseason brackets are released.

“I’m not making a big deal about it,” Mark Pope told KSR on Thursday. “Like, this is a great league. I don’t know how congested it is in this space, but every team in the league is separated by like one game. So it’s like a game. The goal is not to be in first place halfway through the season, you want to be in first place at the end. So this game matters, then the game on Tuesday.

“Every game is so important, so I don’t think we’ll spend a lot of time on that, but it’s just every game is big.”

On the other hand, these Wildcats can’t forget where they came from and the low points they hit along the way, taking for granted the position they’ve found themselves in today. It’s not about being No. 1 on Valentine’s Day or even inching closer to double-bye status, but rather the work they’ve put in to rejoin these serious contention conversations. Could you imagine talking about any of this stuff after the team started 9-6 overall and 0-2 in the SEC?

They’ve earned all of it, with plenty of work left to finish the job.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Pope continued. “They’re just trying to figure things out. We still have a lot of this season left, a lot of growth. There’s a ton of growth in us.”

That doesn’t mean things will be sunshine and rainbows the rest of the way — who knows, a reality check could be waiting for them at Florida? But no matter what, the second-year leader of the Wildcats knows his guys are going to pick themselves back up off the mat and keep swinging.

“It would be naive of me to think that we’re not going to have any more difficult stretches — we will,” Pope said. “But what gives me incredible confidence with this group is that they keep getting up, right? To get up, you have to get better and learn. And this has been a learning group.

“It’s a group that’s been really resilient and will continue to be that throughout the rest of the season.”

No matter how things go on Saturday or what the SEC standings look like going into next week, he’s confident Kentucky will land right where it belongs in Nashville, then the Big Dance.

“I think it’s going to give us a chance to land in a good spot.”