BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Kentucky coach Mark Pope knows well the expectations facing the basketball program.
He was a captain on the Wildcats team that ended an 18-year championship drought in 1996. That team felt the "grumbling" of Rick Pitino not winning a national championship his first six seasons, Pope recalled at the SEC Tipoff event in Birmingham on Wednesday.
"And we came into the season understanding that it was kind of win it all or bust, which essentially it is every year in Kentucky," he said. "And it's the same as it was. It's one of the things that makes Kentucky so special. As an athlete, you are dying to find a place where the pressure is. That's what you want. You want the pressure moment. It's what you're looking for, you're searching for."
While expectations in Lexington are always high, national expectations are another matter. A preseason poll of SEC and national media members released Monday predicted Kentucky to finish seventh in the conference. The Wildcats did not have a player make the preseason All-SEC first-team list. Milan Momcilovic made the second team, and Malachi Moreno made the third team.
"I'll be honest with you, we don't spend a lot of time on polls," Pope said. "We spend all our time on the work that we do and the wins that we earn. So we're very, very focused on the only opinion mattering is the opinion in our locker room."
Pope brought up the Kentucky football program under first-year coach Will Stein. The Wildcats were picked by the media in the preseason to finish 14th. They are currently third in the standings -- 3-1 in conference play and 4-1 overall.
"Just tells you how smart the polls are; they dropped them out of the top 25 after they went on the road and beat an SEC team on the road," Pope said. "And so the guys came back and proved it because the polls didn't matter to them either and had another epic win against our counterparts of LSU."
ESPN's preseason college basketball top 25 has Kentucky ranked 25th. Pressure has been building on Pope to get the job done in Year 3. His first season ended in the Sweet 16. Last season ended in the round of 32.
Still, Pope expressed excitement about the team heading into the start of the season, particularly the roster construction with strong lead guards and centers.
"We are walking into the season with a whole bunch of confidence and optimism about what we can grow into," he said. "I think this team on the offensive side of the ball is long and skilled. We can really, really shoot. It's probably the best shooting team I've ever had. And on the defensive side, we'll again count on our length and our connectedness and our IQ as a team. I think we have a chance to be a great team defense."