The Kentucky Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season against a very good Clemson team (70-66). It was a real test for head coach Mark Pope and his newly assembled team, and Kentucky played for most of the night, which is a huge testament to the Clemson crowd and the pressure from the Tigers players.

After the game, Pope spoke to reporters about how Kentucky has a target on its back and everyone will play their best game. Other teams are desperate to beat the Wildcats and will be ready, hyped and prepared. However, the way he said it made Kentucky fans cringe.

“We are Kentucky. We are everyone’s Super Bowl. That’s why you come here. It’s an honor, but it requires us to be great. We weren’t quite great enough.

– Mark Pope

When an outsider reads this quote or hears it for the first time, they might think, “That’s right! “Kentucky is a blueblood, and people want to beat them, especially when they’re No. 4 in the country.” Kentucky fans cringe because it was a line that John Calipari, the head coach, used most often when his Wildcats lost .

Social media comments for each of these reporters who posted this quote are flooded with much of what Steve Moore said in the tweet above. It gave them the Coach Cal vibe, not the good parts of Coach Cal, but the frustrating parts.

The reality is that the quote is true, and maybe Pope needs to find another way to say it, but teams, coaches and players come to Kentucky desperate to beat the Wildcats. You could see it in Clemson’s schedule, the way they played and the way fans showed up five hours early and waited in the cold to get in. That was Clemson’s Super Bowl earlier in the season, and perhaps it needs another wording: but it’s true.

The fans stormed the court after the game and within a minute filled the entire court with cheers as they defeated Kentucky. The Wildcats will have one goal in their sights all year long and must prepare for it.