Rainy days hover over Kentucky and Mark Pope. After the departure of John Calipari, the program was confident in its ability to rebuild. What Pope is doing right now, however, has been a rollercoaster of a ride. The Wildcats stand 4-3 in conference play, sitting at number eight in the SEC. Their two consecutive losses had the morale down, forcing analysts to predict a lowly finish to the conference. But all hope wasn’t lost, meaning their more recent success might just restore it. But hopefully not for a brief moment.

On The Field of 68: After Dark, show hosts CJ Moore, Chris Childers, and Randolph Childress discuss the Wildcats and their standings this year. Ex-Wake Forest coach Childress had a lot to say, some positive, about Kentucky when asked if they were gonna be a 9-9 team at the end of the season. “I don’t think nine and nine is something that’s on the cards for Kentucky. I’m not saying that they’re gonna be 1 or 2 games better than that, I think they probably will be. I think they will get to double digit wins. I mean eleven or twelve wins will be ideal.”

His predictions are a lot more optimistic as compared to others, though. A lot of people have written Kentucky’s season off as a disaster amidst the SEC upset. Pope really let the ball drop after the major loss against Georgia, allowing Alabama to come into his house and take the win. It is time for the Wildcats to hunt, however.

“They’re going on the road for the Tennessee team that just took an L on the road,” Childress said, referring to the Volunteers’ 53-51 loss to Auburn, to further project confidence in Kentucky. “Winning on the road is going to be hard, but they shoot it well enough that they’ll scare the hell out of anybody. They will have their moments.”

The fact of the matter is that Kentucky will be in the tournament no matter where they finish in conference play. Maybe that helps them, maybe that hinders them. When their shots are falling, Kentucky can beat just about any team in collegiate basketball. And against Tennessee, they proved and how!

Kentucky vs Tennessee: Mark Pope’s newest test

The Tennessee Volunteers have looked a lot better than Kentucky this year. For a brief period of time, they were heading the SEC, but recent blemishes on their winning record pushed them down to 5th place ahead of the game against the Wildcats. The Rick Barnes-led team recently lost a thriller of a game against top-seeded Auburn, showing that they truly have skin in the game. But it did not prove enough to overpower the Cats.

It was truly a test for Mark Pope & Co. who were without their star player, Lamont Butler and practically, Andrew Carr, who could manage only 1 minute due to back issues. Yet, coming off a 2-game losing streak, the Wildcats held the spirits high. High enough to defeat the No. 1 defensive team in the entire nation as of Tuesday.

Koby Brea led the team with 18 points, while Amari Williams added 15 rebounds. Each of the five starters scored in double digits as the team managed some impressive numbers when they got shooting– 50% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. Just as Childress predicted.

The Wildcats did trail 33-30 by half time. But they almost completelly led in the second half for a 78-73 finish.

A loss here for Kentucky could’ve meant the 9-9 prophecy beginning to unfold. After how they lost against Alabama and Vanderbilt, the Wildcats needed to make a statement. While they succeeded, it isn’t the season’s end just yet. Mark Pope has big shoes to fill.