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No One Was More Hyped Than Mark Pope After Kentucky Snapped Sweet Sixteen Drought

Karl Rasmussen

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope
Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope / Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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The Kentucky Wildcats took care of business on Sunday, defeating Illinois 84–75 in the round of 32 to secure their place in the Sweet 16.

The victory snapped a five-year drought in which the Wildcats had not made a single Sweet 16 appearance, an unprecedented streak given their stature in college basketball. The last time Kentucky was in the Sweet 16 was under coach John Calipari back in 2019, when the team consisted of current NBA talent including P.J. Washington, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, Immanuel Quickley and Nick Richards.

After the win, head coach Mark Pope was fired up, celebrating with everyone in his vicinity, including his assistant coaches and players.

Pope and his assistants embraced for a group hug, and he then proceeded to excitedly bump shoulders with several of the Wildcats players, all the while shouting, "That's what I'm talking about! Come on!"

The stage is now set for an SEC showdown in the Sweet 16 between No. 3 Kentucky and No. 2 Tennessee.

Pope is hoping to become just the second person in Kentucky's history to win a national championship as both a coach and player. He won a title with the program in 1996, when he averaged 7.6 points and 5.2 rebounds as a senior. The only other individual to win a championship as both a player and coach was J.B. Hall, who won as a player in 1949 and as a coach in 1978.

Regardless of what transpires in the coming days, Pope has proven to be a more than capable coach for the high-profile Kentucky job, having snapped their streak of shortcomings in the NCAA tournament.

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Karl Rasmussen
KARL RASMUSSEN

Karl Rasmussen is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News team for Sports Illustrated. A University of Oregon alum who joined SI in February 2023, his work has appeared on 12up and ClutchPoints. Rasmussen is a loyal Tottenham, Jets, Yankees and Ducks fan.

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