Mark Pope offers gas money for UK fans’ tournament travel. ‘This is not going to go well’
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Kentucky coach Mark Pope has once again offered to cover a bill for his devoted fans. And this time, it could get really expensive.
During his weekly appearance on the Mark Pope radio show Monday, the coach offered to pay gas money for fans willing to drive to Milwaukee for third-seeded Kentucky’s first-round NCAA Tournament game against Troy.
The game is at Fiserv Forum, about 460 miles — or a seven-hour drive — from Rupp Arena.
“I’m going to say something I’m going to regret, but it’s only a seven-hour drive. If anybody is having trouble with gas money, hit me up,” Pope said on the show. “Lets go. Lets get all of BBN out there.”
Predictably, it didn’t take long for Pope’s inbox to fill up.
“My executive assistant just handed me a phone, and there’s a whole slew of emails coming to the office,” Pope said later in the show.
Pope read aloud one of the emails he received from a UK student named Jack. He asked Pope for some gas money or a ticket so he and his girlfriend could attend the game.
Pope said he would do his best to fulfill Jack’s request.
“I love it. BBN, it is the greatest blessing in the world to be able to be a part of BBN. There is no one like it,” Pope said. “Gas money for Milwaukee, this is going to not go well.”
This isn’t the first Pope footed the bill for Kentucky fans. After a late November game against Georgia State, Pope offered free ice cream for fans who stuck around after the game. He left behind a credit card belonging to his wife, Lee Anne Pope, to buy fans some of Rupp Arena’s famous ice cream.
It only took a few minutes for more than a hundred fans to flock to the ice cream booth, forming a line that snaked through the concourse.
“I had this ridiculous notion one night after a game to buy everybody that was left in the arena ice cream. It cost me a little bit more than I anticipated, but it’s all family baby,” Pope said on the show Monday.
Pope details his perfect path to the Final Four
If Kentucky wants to reach its first Final Four since 2015, it will have to first beat Troy before taking down potentially Illinois, Tennessee and Houston, if seeding holds to form.
If Pope had his way, he would face a different path to the Final Four.
“So there would have been a scenario, if we had worked this out, where we could’ve gotten Utah Valley round one, BYU round two, Coach P. (Rick Pitino and St. John’s) round three, throw in an Arkansas or Louisville,” Pope jokingly said on his radio show. “Those storylines will have to wait until next year.”
Pope previously coached at Utah Valley State and BYU before beginning his tenure at UK. The Cats and St. John’s have been connected since Pope’s hiring — UK legend Rick Pitino now coaches the Red Storm — and there’s potential for the two teams to meet in Rupp Arena next season.
Facing off against Arkansas, who is coached by former Kentucky king now turned head hog John Calipari, or Louisville, Kentucky’s fiercest rival, would only add drama to Kentucky’s March Madness story.
However, none of those matchups can happen until the Final Four at the earliest under the bracket released Sunday.
This story was originally published March 18, 2025 at 10:59 AM.
