Mark Pope hit the ground running building Kentucky's 2025 recruiting class. How does the incoming haul compare with the rest of the nation's best?

Mark Pope’s Kentucky Wildcats won the first meeting over Pat Kelsey’s Louisville Cardinals, but both college basketball coaches are inspiring hope.

Transition remains for Mark Pope with No. 5 Kentucky and Pat Kelsey with Louisville, growing pains and all. But judging from the intensity Saturday for the latest Bluegrass showdown, the first-year coaches have already succeeded in re-igniting excitement into their programs along with the rivalry that had recently become rather stagnant.

On the eve of the first time Mark Pope would coach his college alma mater against its intrastate archrival, the new Kentucky head man decided to do a little historical research. Along with his wife, Lee Anne,

Louisville Cardinals rivalry on the hardwood means. “Our media and alumni team did something really cool that I thought was so special,” head coach Mark Pope said after the win. “They each wrote a letter to one our players about what this game means to them,