When Kentucky fans watched the Wildcats get booed off the floor after a 35-point loss to Gonzaga, it felt like the season was spiraling. Injuries were piling up. The non-conference résumé had dents. The preseason blueprint? Toss it out.
And yet here we are.
Kentucky is playing Florida with the top of the SEC on the line — exactly where many expected the Cats to be back in October. The journey just didn’t look anything like anyone imagined.
Even Mark Pope admits it.
“We don’t look anything like we imagined. This is not the plan. This was not the scheme. This was not how this was conceived at all,” Pope said on the HoopsHQ podcast with Seth Davis and Andy Katz. “But that’s the beauty of a season… it’s adjusting and figuring things out, and guys stepping up, and guys maturing, and guys leaning on each other.”
This hasn’t been the “traditional Kentucky way.” There was no smooth, dominant march through November and December. No perfectly polished system humming from day one. Instead, it’s been messy. Painful at times. Humbling.
But it’s also been real.
“We’re not doing this the traditional Kentucky way. It’s probably not the traditional Kentucky season,” Pope said. “With all that said, I feel bad for you if you’re missing what’s happening right now because it’s awesome. I love stories. I love redemption. I love overcoming.”
That’s exactly what this team has become — a redemption story.
Battle-Tested and Unafraid
Early in the season, slow starts buried Kentucky. They dug double-digit holes and couldn’t always climb out. Those games exposed flaws and tested belief.
Now? Those same situations don’t rattle them.
Comebacks against LSU and Tennessee — twice — hardened this group. What were once weaknesses have turned into scars from fights they survived.
“I think you earn belief, and our guys have just figured out a way to do it,” Pope said. “There’s probably not a lot that can happen to us in a game that hasn’t happened before. We’re not really scared of it.”
That’s the biggest shift. Not scheme. Not rotations.
Belief.
Kentucky has won eight of its last nine games, and it’s not just one player carrying the load. Yes, Otega Oweh is playing like the preseason SEC Player of the Year. But Collin Chandler has caught fire. Denzel Aberdeen looks increasingly comfortable running the offense. Role players are embracing their moments instead of shrinking from them.
The identity has changed. And that’s the point.
A Story Still Being Written
With hype building ahead of the Tennessee showdown, Pope made sure his team stayed centered.
“This is only about us,” he told them. “This is the story you guys are writing right now, and it’s a great story. I don’t want to put the book down.”
That message landed.
This Kentucky team may not resemble the one Pope sketched out in the preseason. The system has been tweaked. Rotations have evolved. Responsibilities have shifted.
They had to recreate everything.
But what’s emerged might be stronger than the original design — a tougher, more resilient group that isn’t defined by how it started, but by how it responds.
It’s not conventional.
It’s not polished.
But it’s working.
