Mark Pope gets real on his dominance over Rick Pitino

Mark Pope and his Kentucky Wildcats will go against one of the most iconic coaches in college basketball history, Rick Pitino, and the St. John’s Red Storm in the upcoming 2025-26 NCAA season. 

Pope and Pitino go a long way back, as they first crossed paths at Kentucky after a young forward joined the Wildcats that Pitino coached to the national championship in the 1995-96 campaign. 

Now in his second season leading his alma mater, Pope is aiming to take the team to another title, but they’ll have to overcome obstacles along the way. St. John’s will be one of their toughest opponents of the season, and Pitno sees this matchup as a special duel between a coach and his son. 

“I think, it’s no different than coaching against your son, who obviously stirs different emotions,” Pitino told CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein in Monday’s episode of the “Inside College Basketball Now” podcast.

Mark Pope asserts dominance over Rick Pitino

Mark Pope is confident that he can beat his former coach at anything. During Thursday’s episode of the “Eye on College Basketball” podcast, Pope told analyst Matt Norlander that, regardless of the game or situation, he would always beat Pitino. Asked about which coach spent more on their roster ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, Pope didn’t hesitate.

Rick Pitino

“It doesn’t matter what question you ask me about Coach P,” Pope said. “I’m going to have done it more and bigger and better coach.”

Pope and Pitino couldn’t lead their respective squads to the national title last campaign, but they have renewed expectations for 2026.