Mark Pope’s coaching perspective: Big Blue Nation’s support is as unbelievable as ever
Mark Pope lived it as a player and now experiences it as a coach, yet Big Blue Nation’s passion continues to impress him. He mentions it after every home game and even road games because, let’s be real, BBN travels better than any fanbase. The New Year’s Eve game against Brown was no exception, he was blown away with the turn out and the passion throughout the whole game.
“”There’s not anywhere else in the world where you can walk in on New Year’s Eve, at 2 o’clock, and have 20,500 in there to watch you play a mid-major team. It is just incredible and so grateful to all BBN.””Mark Pope
Not only was it another packed stadium to watch a Kentucky team dismantle an Ivy League program, winning 88-54. Kentucky fans hung around long after to listen to Pope’s radio interview afterward, and even that crowd was impressive.
This isn’t normal. https://t.co/yFBiM6ywCW
— T.J. Walker (@TJWalkerRadio) December 31, 2024
T.J. Walker is right; this isn’t normal. Kentucky beat a random opponent by over 30 points, which for most programs means that fans begin to leave a little bit early as the game gets out of hand. The energy from Big Blue Nation stayed steady the whole way through, and then a couple of thousand fans stayed around to listen to his radio interview. That’s not normal, add in the reality that it was New Year’s Eve where most fanbases would quickly leave to get to other plans for Big Blue Nation this was incorporated into the plans.
Mark Pope and Kentucky basketball will want all the Big Blue Nation energy for the next game as they take on the #6 Florida Gators in the opening of SEC conference play. They get to kick off the SEC with a home game, and Kentucky fans better be ready to bring it for the Wildcats.
