How Mark Pope has Kentucky preparing for potential SEC Tournament opponents

In Mark Pope‘s first-ever SEC Tournament as the head coach at Kentucky, the Wildcats do not know who they will play when the ball is tipped at 9:30 PM ET on Thursday in Nashville. To find out, they will have to pay attention to the game tipped tonight at 9:30 PM ET in Nashville.

It’s going to be the No. 11 seed Georgia Bulldogs or the No. 14 seed Oklahoma Sooners, Pope’s group previously losing to the former in the first true road game of SEC play on January 7 and beating the latter a few weeks back in Norman.

How are the Wildcats preparing for either scenario ahead of their postseason opener on Thursday? Pope has his staff ready for all of it — including both now and down the road. He shared the team’s scouting plan earlier in the week during his call-in radio show.

“It’s actually busier than ever. We’re doing three scouts,” Pope said Monday evening. “We’re doing a pretty intensive self-scout right now and we’re doing a scout on both Oklahoma and Georgia. So it’s like three times the work. Luckily, we have a couple extra days to fill it in and it’s fun.”

How are things going in Nashville? The team arrived Tuesday and got some early work in Wednesday before the chaos at Bridgestone Arena.

Getting a feel in @BrdgstoneArena. pic.twitter.com/QlbfniwurG

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) March 12, 2025

While the team went on its SEC shopping spree to pick out espresso machines and air fryers, Pope sat down with the media early Wednesday afternoon to talk about the team’s mindset entering the postseason and how they’re preparing for two different opponents simultaneously.

Having a fun time on Wednesday at the @SEC Tournament 😸 pic.twitter.com/FzyXGOBt4O

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) March 12, 2025

“We have three teams right now, three teams that are leading the scout,” Pope said. Team A and B, or 1A and 1B are working on Georgia and Oklahoma. Then we have another independent group on the staff that’s working on Alabama and prepping that. We also have a group that’s looking even further down the road.”

How much further? Like, No. 10 seed Mississippi State and No. 15 seed LSU, who could potentially win three games and face Kentucky in the semifinals, should the Wildcats get there? What about the teams on the other side of the bracket?

“Well, you’d have to ask those two guys. Those guys are just responsible for anything that’s coming more than two days away,” Pope joked.

For now, you’ll see the coaches scouting from their courtside seats tonight while the Bulldogs and Sooners fight for a spot in the second round. They’ll get a feel for just how late the Wildcats will have to play on Thursday with an identical tip time.

They may be sleepy, but it’s nothing they haven’t done before this season — remember that Gonzaga win in Seattle with a 10 PM ET tip? Time to run it back in Nashville.

“We’ve always kind of managed our schedule to cater to tip times. We’ve had a couple of really early tips — some 11 AM starts. We’re used to preparing for different times,” Pope said. “The 8:30 (CT) tip is a little past my bedtime, so we’ll see how that goes. I might be a little sleepy, but we’ll be fine.”

It’s the calm before the storm in the Music City.