On Tuesday night in the United Center, Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats took on the Kansas Jayhawks in the Champions Classic and were blown out. This is another embarrassing loss for Pope in the Champions Classic and another blowout against a power conference team.

This loss to Kansas was a bad look for the Wildcats, and the fan base is starting to lose hope in Coach Pope. Let's take it all the way back to when Coach Pope was hired by Kentucky. At first, the fan base didn't seem thrilled, but then everyone came around, and his opening press conference was a true spectacle.

Coach Pope's first season in Lexington was really exciting, and the fan base was excited for the future. Last season was a failure, but the fan base gave Coach Pope some leeway, knowing there were some big-time season-ending injuries for the Wildcats. This offseason, Coach Pope missed out on some really good players in the portal and in the high school recruiting class. This led to some frustration, but then the season got ready, and most fans got themselves excited.

Tuesday night, the Wildcats were blown out by the Jayhawks, and rightfully so, the fans were very frustrated. Especially the fans who made the trip up to Chicago to see this game in person. The part that made this even more concerning for Coach Pope was the way the fan base reacted.

The fan base didn't react as they did after the Gonzaga loss last year, when there were a ton of boo birds coming at Coach Pope. There were some boos, but this wasn't the feel. The feel in the United Center, coming from someone who was there, felt almost like most of the fans had given up. The fan base just didn't seem to have any kind of emotion, almost like they were saying, "We're used to this."

That, to me, is scarier than the fan base booing the team after a poor performance because at least the booing means there is some passion left. Coach Pope has to find a way to get this fan base to buy back into the season, and a good start would be to beat Indiana on Friday, November 20th. If Coach Pope wants to stick around in Lexington long-term, this season has to go much better than fans think it will after this start.

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