SEC fines Kentucky's Mark Pope $25K for post-game conduct

Field Level Media|published: Tue 24th February, 14:13 2026

Feb 17, 2026; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope looks to his bench during the second half against the Georgia Bulldogs at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope has been fined $25,000 by the Southeastern Conference on Tuesday for his post-game conduct and comments related to officiating following his team's 75-74 loss at Auburn last week.

The Tigers escaped with the win on Saturday following Elyjah Freeman's tip-in with 1.1 seconds remaining in the second half. That play came on the heels of Collin Chandler being whistled for an offensive foul at the other end of the court.

In his postgame comments, Pope walked a fine line when discussing the officiating.

"We're not allowed to talk about the referees, but you guys saw it, and I think sometimes it's just super personal," Pope said. "I'm not allowed to comment on the referees. I won't comment on the referees. It's unfortunate. It didn't cost us the game."

Pope said the following to Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart as he concluded his post-game conference:

"Mitch, if those mother F'ers try to fine me, screw 'em because I did not say a word about how they cheated us."

The league said Pope violated SEC bylaw 10.5.3 (sportsmanship) and the league's commissioner's regulation regarding public criticism of officials, which "prohibit coaches, student-athletes and institutional staff from publicly criticizing officials or disclosing officiating-related communications."

Pope also provided a pointed comment prior to that.

"We refuse to give control to people that are outside of our program. Refuse," Pope said after the loss. "Regardless of how personal it might get or how bad it might get, we refuse to give control to fans, to give control to anybody else associated with this game. Regardless of how blatantly people are trying to make this not happen, we refuse to give them our power. ... We don't make excuses. We don't do that. Regardless of what is happening. Regardless of how disgraceful things are, we don't give away our power. Regardless of how embarrassing, personal, awful, unacceptable things are, we refuse to give away our power."

Kentucky (17-10, 8-6 SEC) will look to snap a three-game losing streak on Tuesday when it visits South Carolina (12-15, 3-11) in Columbia, S.C.

--Field Level Media