Mark Pope admits having "emotional advantage" ahead of Kentucky's Sweet 16 matchup vs Tennessee 

To Kentucky Wildcats coach Mark Pope, beating the Tennessee Volunteers twice during the season might give his team some sort of an emotional edge, but little else ahead of the teams’ Sweet 16 matchup this Friday.

In his media availability ahead of the game against the Vols, the head coach shared his thoughts on his squad’s 2-0 record against Tennessee.

“If we really parse details, there's maybe the emotional advantage of winning two that you feel like you know you can," Pope said.

"And there’s the strategic side of coming to know when to kind of consider you might have a better idea if you’re gonna make changes, a better idea of how and why. But I think that’s like a 0.1%. This is a freestanding game,” he added.

The Wildcats won 78-73 in Knoxville on Jan. 28 and then swept the season series with a 75-64 home victory on Feb. 11. They arrived at the Sweet 16 after defeating Troy and Illinois with relative ease in the first two rounds of the tournament.

Tennessee, on the other hand, handled Wooford and UCLA in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament after making it to the Final of the SEC tourney.

Kentucky has been a more traditional powerhouse, but last made the Elite Eight in 2019. The Vols have made the Regional Semifinal twice under Rick Barnes, including last year, but they have never played in the Final Four.

Mark Pope lauds Tennessee coach Rick Barnes

Kentucky and Tennessee may be rivals, but Mark Pope was nothing but complimentary of Volunteers coach Rick Barnes ahead of Friday’s game. Pope went on to call Barnes one of the best coaches in the sport on Thursday’s press conference.

“Rick Barnes is, if not the best, one of the best coaches in all of college basketball right now, and he’s one of the people that I really, really admire. I admire him because he puts together great teams every year and I admire him because of everything I know about him," Pope said via On3.com.

“He’s a way better man than he’s a basketball coach, and when you’re one of the best basketball coaches that’s saying a lot about him,” he added.

Barnes arrived in Knoxville in 2015, after a 17-year tenure at Texas, where he took the Longhorns to the Final Four in 2003. They would lose to eventual champion Syracuse in the National semifinal.

After arriving in Tennessee, Barnes has turned the Volunteers into one of the most consistent programs in the SEC, making the NCAA Tournament seven times in the past eight years. He won Coach of the Year honors in 2019.

The winner of Friday’s game between the Wildcats and Volunteers will face the winner of Houston versus Purdue in the Regional Final.