Kentucky basketball now has four 10-loss seasons in a row

Kentucky basketball is on a historic stretch over the last few seasons, but in a bad way.

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope reacts during the first half of a NCAA mens basketball game at Steven C. O'Connell Center Exactek arena in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, February 14, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun] | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After having some bad historical stats come about following their home loss to Georgia on Tuesday, the negative results did not stop for Kentucky. On Saturday, the Wildcats fell in brutal fashion 75-74 to Auburn, a game where they needed to win and bounce back, especially with who they have to play to close out the season.

The bad stats from the Georgia game included three home losses in a single season, five SEC home losses in two years under Mark Pope, and Georgia's first win in Rupp Arena since 2009. But on Saturday, the historic data just continued to pile on with negative results. Following the loss to Auburn, Kentucky fell to 17-10 on the season, which marks the fourth 10-loss season in row in Lexington, two by Mark Pope. The only other time that has ever happened at Kentucky was from 2005-09.

On top of that, this is also the first time Kentucky has lost three SEC games in a row since 2021. So far in Pope's time in Lexington, things have been very inconsistent. Last season, Pope secured eight wins over top 15 teams, but still finished with double-digit losses in thec regular season. This year, Pope has had to deal with injuries once again, but the losses have piled up, including some not-so-good ones to teams on the bubble in the NCAA Tournament. Despite wins over Arkansas, St. John's, Tennessee and Indiana, the losses have been noisy. The Wildcats have notable losses in embarrassing fashion to Louisville, Michigan State, Gonzaga, UNC, Vandy and Alabama. They also have bad losses resume-wise to teams such as Missouri, UNC, Georgia, and now Auburn.

As a former player at Kentucky, Pope understands what the standard is in Lexington. He has had to adjust in his jump from BYU to Kentucky, as you can tell by how this team was constructed and everything that has happened this season. BBN is behind Pope, but he really does have some work to do in order to get this program back to where it needs to be and right now, he is adding to the bad, historic numbers thanks to everything that has resulted throughout this season.

All in all, things just has not been to the standard of Kentucky basketball over the last six years.