Barstool Sports rips Mark Pope calling his Kentucky team a failure and embarrassment

The Kentucky Wildcats picked up their third loss of the season on Tuesday night as the North Carolina Tar Heels came into Rupp Arena and beat Mark Pope's team 67-64.

There were three aspects to this loss that had Big Blue Nation fired up. The first was getting dominated on the offensive glass. The Tar Heels scored 22 second-chance points, and it seemed every time the Wildcats got a big stop, UNC got the offensive board and scored.

The second was the fact that this team went 1 of 13 from three. Coach Pope's goal was for this team to shoot 30 or more threes this season. Not only did the Wildcats not get to this number, but they also only made one in this ball game.

Nov 26, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope yells to his players during the first half against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

The third frustrating part of this game was the second-half scoring drought. The Wildcats went 10+ minutes in the second half without scoring a field goal.

Despite all of this, Pope's team was still in it late but fell short in front of an incredible Rupp Arena crowd. This has sparked a lot of frustration among Kentucky fans, and that frustration has made it to Barstool Sports.

Barstool writer "Reags" is a Kentucky fan who bleeds blue. He wrote an article after the loss to the Tar Heels titled: "Mark Pope and every player associated with Kentucky Basketball aren't just failures this season. They are complete embarrassments to the program."

Here at Kentucky Wildcats On SI, we have been very critical of Pope this season. We are not one of the media outlets, sunshine pumping, saying it's all going to be fine, just wait until this team is 100%.

While that is the case it does still seem a bit early to throw out an article with this drastic of a headline. For example, that game against UNC, the Wildcats would have really benefited from the rebounding of Jayden Quaintance and the offense Jaland Lowe would have created.

There is a chance that when this team is 100% healthy, the Wildcats don't make the drastic improvement that fans are hoping for. While this is the case, this basketball team does seem a few weeks away from playing at 100% and it seems a bit early to call this team failures and embarrassments to the program.

I get where Reags is coming from, and BBN feels the same frustration, but fans need to stay bought in and see what this team can do when at 100%. This team playing at 100% healthy will not guarantee success but it does give the Wildcats a shot to turn things around before SEC play.