Mark Pope 'lives and dies' by Kentucky basketball: "I am BBN."

Mark Pope is Big Blue Nation and Big Blue Nation is Mark Pope. Not in the sense that his voice matters more than the average fan or that he gets to speak on their behalf, obviously. What Kentucky‘s new head coach wants to make clear, though, is how you feel about the Wildcats and the day-to-day operation in Lexington is how he feels.

This stuff eats him up just like it does for you — recruiting, transfers, coaching decisions, wins and losses, all of it. Everything that is important to you as a diehard fan is important to him.

“I am BBN — well, that may sound wrong. When I said that, I was like, ‘Man, that sounds super arrogant.’ What I mean is that I’m the same as the person that I just signed their hat. I love this place, I love cheering for Kentucky,” Pope said at Club Blue’s NEW ERA event on Saturday. “That’s the way I feel, living and dying by every guy we sign and person we recruit, every play that we make and practice we have in the same way that every other member of BBN is.”

Take a few of his answers during the fan Q&A session at the event, for example. One asked Pope what the most important game on the schedule was for him in his first year at Kentucky — other than Coach Cal’s return to Rupp Arena with the Arkansas Razorbacks, of course.

His response? “They’re all big here, man.”

Another asked about the importance of winning games in the postseason and prioritizing high-profile regular-season matchups and events — maybe a slight shot at random non-conference losses and a lack of emphasis on the SEC Tournament in recent years? Pope didn’t take the bait there, but kept the messaging consistent.

“Trying to differentiate the season and the postseason — we will treat each game exactly the same,” he added.

It’s exactly what he said when he was introduced as head coach, everyone in this together to win every single game, every single year. That’s what is expected at Kentucky and what he expects of himself as the program’s leader.

“That’s the natural part of this, we’re all in this together. We all love this place, we’re all trying to compete together,” Pope said Saturday. “We all need each other. That’s why Kentucky is different than everywhere else in sports. There are some places in professional sports that may approximate what Kentucky basketball is, but there is no one that compares at the college level. Being a part of that is really special.”

When will reality hit him that he’s actually the head coach at his alma mater, a place that demands such excellence as the winningest tradition in college basketball? He’ll let you know when the time comes — if ever.

Until then, he’s going to soak in every second he can representing the program and introducing himself to transfers and recruits as Kentucky coach Mark Pope.

“I have more joy every time I talk to recruits talking about the University of Kentucky — I just like saying the words. I like saying the words, it gives me a thrill every single time I say it. I’m never going to get over that,” Pope said. “That’s never going to become normal for me, it’s not. We will continue to keep our focus squarely on our incredible gratitude of this opportunity to be affiliated with this university.

“It’s just like every member of BBN, just like every student-athlete, every member of our team: nobody gets to do this, but we do. We’re the blessed ones who get to do this. That’s never going to fade.”

One of us.