“Manhattan is not a bad place to be around Christmas": Kentucky HC Mark Pope names UK vs. OSU to be one of the most important ones for the team

Kentucky coach Mark Pope engaged in a Q&A session with Wildcats fans during the Club Blue New Era NIL event on Saturday. During the conversation, one fan asked Pope to name the most important game of the 2024-25 season, besides Arkansas, former coach John Calipari's current team. As fans shouted team names, he said:

"Excited to beat Arkansas at home this season. They're all big here."

Coach Pope also confirmed Kentucky's rumored clash against Ohio State on Dec 21, right before Christmas, at the iconic Madison Square Garden. UCLA vs North Carolina will be the other game for the day.

"Let me tell ya, Manhattan is not a bad place to be around Christmas, especially after a win. So we gotta make that happen,” Pope added.

Mark Pope captained the 1996 Kentucky team that won the program's sixth NCAA championship, with Rick Pitino as the coach. The 2025-26 season will mark the win's 30th anniversary and Pope explained during the Q&A session that he was working with Pitino and St. John's for a home game to commemorate the victory.

Mark Pope details his goals for his first year with the Wildcats

Mark Pope arrived at Lexington to a non-existent roster as most players had entered the transfer portal following coach Calipari's exit. While some followed him to Arkansas, most have committed elsewhere.

Antonio Reeves and Tre Mitchell exhausted their eligibility. Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham, and Justin Edward have declared for the 2024 NBA draft. This left Pope and his staff with the tedious work of completely rebuilding the roster.

Having championship hopes with a new roster is unimaginable, but Pope seems up to the task. He said in an interview with WDRB’s Tyler Greever (via On3):

“If you know Kentucky, you don’t really have an option. This is Kentucky basketball. You can try and go out there and moderate expectations, but that’s not going to be accepted by anybody. If you want to moderate expectations, don’t take the job at the University of Kentucky.

"There’s one thing that’s expected here and there’s one thing that will seal your tenure as a coach here and as a player here. That expectation is to go win a championship. There’s no reason to posture for anything less.

"If you want to posture for, like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna build this and we’re gonna go step by step, and we’re gonna celebrate a Final Four,’ then go to any other school in the country. You can’t do that here at Kentucky.”

What are your predictions for Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats in the 2024-25 season? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.