The SEC issued a public reprimand and fined Kentucky coach Mark Pope $25,000 for comments made about officiating following Kentucky's Feb. 21 loss to Auburn. The situation got spicier when reporters attending Pope's press conference recorded a conversation between Pope and Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart after Pope left the podium, in which Pope seemed to take issue with a late offensive foul call on Kentucky's Collin Chandler, which gave Auburn possession of the ball with 14 seconds left to play, before Elyjah Freeman scored a last-second tip-in bucket that gave Auburn its 75-74 victory.
What made this worse? As Pope walked away from the podium after his post-game news conference, he was caught saying, "If those (expletives) try to fine me, screw 'em because I did not say a word about how they cheated us" to Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart. Spoiler alert: They did fine him. During his actual press conference, Pope had tried to walk a careful line, saying he wasn't allowed to comment on referees—but that didn't stop the SEC from taking action.
The loss was Kentucky's third in a row after it had won eight of its previous nine games. With an 8-6 record in league play, the Wildcats are tied for sixth in the 16-team SEC despite entering the season No. 9 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and sporting a roster worth a reported $22 million. Now Kentucky will look to snap a three-game losing streak on Tuesday when it visits South Carolina. Pope's fine is the least of his worries at this point—the Wildcats need wins, not penalties from the conference office.