The amount of pressure surrounding any coach at the Unviersity of Kentucky instantly comes with lofty expectations and overreactions the moment things aren’t trending in the right direction. Unfortunately for Mark Pope, he’s been a victim to Big Blue Nation’s remarks and comments following back-to-back losses against ranked opponents.

However, this time, there’s more issues extending past the on-court play for the Wildcats.

After his coaching meltdown against the Lousiville Cardinals on Nov. 11, Pope was short and blunt after the game, featuring one of his shortest press conferences in his tenure.

Kentucky fans were sour, but were willing to put the loss on the back burner, with fans commenting “I trust Coach Pope!!!!” and “Quit panicking. We own Louisville.” on KY Insider’s social media posts after the game.

Historically, not hitting the panic button just yet after losing the Battle of the Bluegrass is justified, since the Wildcats lead the series 40-18 all-time and Pope and Pat Kelsey have the same amount of wins against each other since both took their respective positions.

Completely out of his character, Pope alluded to a pregame situation at the KFC Yum! Center that was ironically “way out of character” for his team. Obviously, the media, fans and anyone who didn’t know what he was referring to became curious.

The next day, the former Wildcat responded with a dominating win over Easten Illinois and, when asked about the situation, decided to make a move in the wrong direction.

Just two minutes into the after-game press conference, Pope was asked to ellaborate on what he said and with a big smile on his face, did everything in his power to turn down any speculation.

“There’s really not much to it,” said Pope with a Taylor Swift reference. “When we talk about it, it’s really not going to be very interesting. It was just the way that we felt as a team and how we responded.”

At the time, this answer wasn’t enough for most, but it was something. Rumors began to swirl around what actually happened, with talks of a fight between several players and even an incident with a Lousiville fan and a player reaching virality overnight.

Without directly addressing the matter, this did nothing but add fuel to the fire.

Then, the last thing the unsure fans needed, the Wildcats were blown out in Madison Square Garden by the No. 17 Michigan State Spartans.

Before, during and after the game, we all saw a different side of the coach we all know and love. He was visually disappointed and mellow.

Pope took nearly an hour to make his way to the media room and answer questions, which again just made the people already unsure on what is happening behind the scenes more concerned.

When KY Insider asked Pope about fighting through adversity and coming together, he was brutally honest with his respone.

“I got to do a better job,” said Pope. “My messaging isn’t resonating with the guys right now – that’s my responsibility.”

Pope would go on to listen to his senior leader Otega Oweh answer questions and do an interview with national reporter Jeff Goodman – remaining bleak the entire time.

Any person with a heart thought it was odd, and would likely offer Pope a hug or reassurance that he has more than enough time to fix things.

The social media war then began, with Pope’s former teammates and assistant coaches responding to toxic comments and beating down the negative side of the Kentucky fan base.

Yet again, most with any basketball knowledge realized you can’t in essence win every single game, and moved on.

During his media availability on Thursday, Nov. 20, Pope was asked about the rumors swirling around the entire two weeks of mishap, and he put his foot down, stating it was just that their usual pregame routine started earlier than expected.

“There’s nothing there,” said Pope. “We came into our 40-minute metting, and normally, our 40-minute, we try and keep it really calm and really relaxed because we’re trying to manage our emotions, and it didn’t work.”

He took time to finally shed positive light on the players and their prep for the next game, but many chose to pick out this moment and call the “BS” card.

The rumors and speculation surrounding the entire locker room were for nothing, with many raising that it wasn’t the best decision to cause unwanted drama when the program is struggling on the court.

Now, whether it boils down to the second-year coach just wording things poorly or hiding what really is happening behind the scenes for the sake of the program, fans are slowly becoming untrustworthy in Pope’s words after his politician-like media availability.

Beating around the bush just doesn’t work for such a passionate fan base.