Mark Pope was not happy about the officiating in Tuscaloosa

Mark Pope is a nice guy. Some would argue too nice, although I don’t think the locker room in Oxford Mississippi that left the Kentucky head coach’s hand bloodied during halftime would agree. Regardless, Pope’s relentless positivity and uplifting spirit are not compatible with the firey ire towards officiating to which so many head coaches inevitably fall victim. However, that changed on Saturday during Kentucky’s loss to Alabama.

Look, the Tide beat the ‘Cats. This isn’t an excuse-filled diatribe making the men in stripes scapegoats for Kentucky’s shortcomings. This is more to showcase that even the holiest among us want to curse the zebras at some point and Pope toed that line on Saturday.

The ESPN camera picked up the tail end of Mark Pope yelling in disagreement indirectly at referee Terry Oglesby, who took exception to the outburst. Oglesby briefly paused the game to stare down Pope, step toward him, and provide an assertive retort to the Kentucky head coach.

With no audio, it is hard to say what exactly transpired, but at best, it was odd. At worst, it was unbecoming of an SEC official. Either way, it was slightly out of character from Mark Pope, who has said on more than one occasion that officiating does not determine the outcome of games.

This ref just stopped the entire game just to stare down and follow Mark Pope

I mean wtf 😂😭 pic.twitter.com/Thtl9Am1Xc

— Barstool Kentucky (@BarstoolUK) February 23, 2025

Pope criticizes officials without criticizing officials

Pope, in his own way, had to hold himself back from voicing disapproval about how the calls went in the post-game press conference. When asked what Alabama did to take Otega Oweh out of the game considering he fouled out with only two points, Pope, with a stern look, replied, “Are you baiting me into an answer here?” After a multi-second pause, Pope tersely said with a sarcastic shrug, “I think Alabama is a terrific defensive team.”

Alabama, of course, is not a terrific defensive team. They rank 155th in the nation in defensive efficiency, but the faux compliment was a wise cop-out to avoid a fine from the SEC. The correct answer, and the one on the tip of Pope’s tongue, is that multiple foul calls on Oweh were of the phantom variety, a favor not returned on the opposite end of the court.

Both Oweh and Collin Chandler fouled out of the game for the ‘Cats and while the total fouls (22 against Kentucky, 20 against Alabama) look roughly even in the box score, the eye test on the physicality not called under the basket during Kentucky layup attempts combined the some ticky-tack home whistles paint a different story.

Again, bad calls and no calls did not cost Kentucky the game, but it takes a lot for Mark Pope to get a referee that angry at him and then tapdance around blasting the officiating in the post-game press conference.