Mark Pope has received a hefty fine after his Auburn postgame meltdown

The Kentucky Wildcats lost a heartbreaker on Saturday to the Auburn Tigers where they had a late lead, but the Tigers were able to squeak out the victory thanks to a last-second basket. There was one play that really left a bad taste in the mouths of Kentucky fans, and that was the offensive foul on Collin Chandler late.

The Wildcats had a one-point lead with under 15 seconds to play, and they were inbounding the ball, which Auburn was going to foul. Chandler went to start the out of bounds play and gave his defender a push, to which the Auburn defender flooped like no other. The official behind the play ended up calling the foul, and he didn’t have any kind of great view to see the foul.

The officials hadn’t called this once all game long, but they called it when it mattered the most, and it hurt the Wildcats. After the loss, it was clear Coach Pope was incredibly frustrated with this call, as he was incredibly passive-aggressive in his press conference. Basically, Coach Pope was talking about the call without talking about the call.

As Pope walked out of the press room, he was heard shouting, “Mitch, if those MFers try to fine me, they can’t. I didn’t say a word about how they cheated us.”

The SEC clearly did not like this comment from Coach Pope, as they just announced that they will be fining him 25,000 dollars for his comments to athletic director Mitch Barnhart after the loss. Some folks during Pope’s tenure at Kentucky have said that he doesn’t show enough fire, well in this season as a whole, and especially this moment after the loss to Auburn it been made clear that Pope has some fire.

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

Coach Pope did have every right to be frustrated with this call knowing that the Wildcats needed to win this ball game and if that wasn't called a foul they more than likely would have gotten the victory. Kentucky had their chance to get a rebound on the final basket that won it for Auburn, but this foul call really changed the momentum in Auburn's favor.

Here is what the SEC had to say about why they gave Coach Pope the fine, "The comments violated SEC Bylaw 10.5.3 (Sportsmanship) and the SEC Commissioner’s Regulation regarding Public Criticism of Officials, which prohibit coaches, student-athletes and institutional staff from publicly criticizing officials or disclosing officiating-related communications."