Kentucky’s Mark Pope wants 40-game regular season, portal opening moved to after NCAA Tournament

Earlier this summer, the NCAA Division I Council approved an increase from 31 to 32 regular season games in college basketball beginning with the 2026-27 season.

Kentucky coach Mark Pope doesn’t think it’s nearly enough.

“I would love to get to 40,” Pope told CBS Sports on Thursday’s Eye on College Basketball podcast.

The second-year Kentucky coach has a variety of reasons why he thinks college basketball’s regular season should inflate by as many as eight games, which would also logistically require bumping up the start of the season to mid-October. 

“One, our guys do better academically during the season than they do out of the season,” Pope said. “Two, when our guys go on to the NBA, they’ve played a 31-game season. This was my experience: When I got to the All-Star break my first year in the league, I felt like I’d played two seasons already and I still had 60 games left to play, so I’m not sure it’s a great prep for the NBA.”

Pope also cited college basketball’s especially high rate of replacement on rosters due to the portal as a reason to increase game inventory, in addition to the obvious carrot: more games is more money to pay players in this new era of revenue sharing. 

“Our teams turn over so much — because of the current environment, which I’m all in for it, it’s all great — but to give our teams a chance to go through a couple evolutions in one season that they used to go through, they used to have one or two or three seasons to get through those evolutions of growth,” he said. “Now we’re trying to squeeze in one season, we could use some more games. And our fans get to know these kids more. Every single game last year, our fans, BBN, got to know our guys so much better. Our fans deserve it. And when you’re tying all this to revenue share, there’s nobody’s that’s going to complain — players, coaches, fans — about getting to 40 games where everyone capitalizes off the revenue-share model.” 

Pope is right that the desire to get more money via ticket revenue and home-gate proceeds will lead to more games in college sports. The increase to 32 starting next year is only the beginning. I’m not sure we’ll get 40 in this generation, but I think a 34- or 35-game schedule in college basketball will be reality by the turn of the decade.

Changing the transfer portal window

Everyone invested in college sports has an opinion on the transfer portal. I asked Pope how he’d tweak that part of the calendar. He spoke from the heart, citing how last season’s Sweet 16 run was slightly dampened by the fact the portal came open the Monday after the first weekend of March Madness, bringing a little unwanted noise to his first tour as UK’s coach.

Pope said, if the choice were his, he’d move the opening of the portal to the Tuesday after the national title game — and drastically reduce the number of days players can opt into the portal. It’s currently a 30-day span. Pope wants to lop off 25 days.

“If I could change it, I would probably move it to the day after the national championship game and make it a really tight window, make it a five-day window,” he said. “That way, everyone’s had time to evaluate, everyone’s had time to see, and just make it a shorter window so we could get through the process. The process is already crazy-fast. But I say that also acknowledging that that answer raises a lot of issues, too. There’s no perfect answer. The main thing should still be the main thing, and the main thing is giving these kids an unfettered opportunity to go be a champion, and I still believe that’s where these kids get the greatest experience of their life that they’ll never forget, is pursuing a championship with their whole hearts.”

In 2024, the portal opened the Monday after Selection Sunday, which prompted widespread backlash. This year, it was pushed to the Monday after the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament and that still wasn’t good enough for many in the sport. Discussions are ongoing about what to do. Most coaches I’ve spoken to prefer the portal to wait until the Monday after the Elite Eight at the earliest. 

Still, don’t take Pope’s musings as complaints. He’s as boisterous as any high-major coach you’ll find. 

“To be a coach in college basketball right now, and have the opportunity to navigate this insanity, is actually the coolest thing ever,” Pope said. “It’s incredibly challenging. I don’t think there’s ever been a better time to be a coach.”

You can watch Pope’s hour-plus sit-down on the Eye on College Basketball podcast in full below, and be sure to subscribe to the channel.

As for the 2025-26 Wildcats, Pope talked about every player on Thursday’s pod appearance, too. Kentucky was a hit in his first season, beating eight teams in the top 15 of the AP rankings, tying an NCAA record. UK went 24-12 and got a 3-seed after grinding through the toughest conference in history. But gone are Jaxson Robinson, Koby Brea, Lamont Butler, Amari Williams, Andrew Carr, Ansley Almonor, Kerr Kriisa and Travis Perry. With them, more than 65 points per game of production also departs. Kentucky had a top-10 offense last season. Here’s the group that will try to match such firepower, with some insight from Pope on every player.

Projected starting lineup

1. Jaland Lowe | 6-3 | 188 | Jr.

The floor general for this year’s Kentucky squad is a transfer from Pitt who averaged 16.8 points and should flourish in a new system. He’s the team’s best talker, consistently holds his teammates accountable and is ready to step into a tier of the most impactful all-around point guards in college hoops. Vital to UK’s quest to repeat last year’s success. Pope: “We think he’s going to take a massive jump. He’s been special for us.”

2. Otega Oweh | 6-4 | 215 | Sr.

A likely preseason All-American, Oweh wasn’t even a projected top-seven minutes guy on Kentucky a year ago. Then he became the team’s leading scorer (16.2 ppg) and thoroughly investigated the NBA Draft process before coming back to Lexington. He’ll be much improved on defense and is expected to see a good uptick in his 3-point rate. 

Pope: “I think he has a chance to be the top defensive player in the country, the most versatile.”

3. Denzel Aberdeen | 6-5 | 190 | Sr.

He’d have been a starter at Florida … but might wind up as a starter at Kentucky anyway. Aberdeen commanded a pretty penny in the portal after putting up 7.7 points for the national champs. Now he’s a laser-focused veteran who wants to capitalize on another roster with gobs of talent. 

Pope: “Winner, winner, winner, winner.”

4. Mouhamed Dioubate | 6-7 | 215 | Jr.

A high-profile, intra-SEC transfer. Kentucky plucked Diabate away from Alabama and in the process made sure that its defense will be improved in 2026-27. The rugged power forward put up 7.2 points and 5.9 rebounds in 16 minutes per game. I’m projecting him as a starter for now, but he could be a guy who plays anywhere from 14 to 25 minutes depending on opponent and rotations. 

Pope: “Mo Diabate guarded every single position on the floor and had everyone on their heels.”

5. Brandon Garrison | 6-10 | 250 | Jr.

Garrison was in the top seven in minutes last season for Pope (17.3 per game) and put up 5.9 points per night. If Kentucky is going to match or exceed its 3-seed entry point in the NCAAs, Garrison needs to take that next huge step. He’s got a great competitive streak that should spread throughout the team. 

Pope: “He does give us this incredible opportunity to switch 1 through 5 because he’s such an elite-level switch defender on ball screens and away from the ball.”

Off the bench

Jayden Quaintance | 6-9 | 215 | So.

The Arizona State transfer tore the ACL in his right knee in March. His return is uncertain, but Pope didn’t eliminate the possibility Quaintance could be back on the floor by the end of November. That said, my read: December is the most optimistic timeline. They’re going to be careful. Even though this is his second season in college, Quaintance is still just 17. He’s a physical freak who was among the best in steals+blocks average last season (3.7 combined), in addition to averaging 9.4 points. 

Jasper Johnson | 6-4 | 175 | Fr.

Ranked 24th in the class of 2025, Johnson is a shoot-first combo guard who can electrify. I’m eager to see him and Lowe share the floor at times this season. If he can get to his shot and adjust to playing against bigger D-I guards, he’ll find himself on the floor in crunch time plenty this season. Pope: “He is a dangerous, dangerous, dangerous scorer.” 

Malachi Moreno | 6-11 | 230 | Fr.

A traditional 5-man, Moreno ranked 27th in the 2025 class (that may well prove to be too low). He’s got some grown men playing above him at that position, so he’ll have to earn his burn, but he’s got the opportunity to be a really nice player for BBN in the coming years. 

Pope: “I’ve seen him dominate 8 feet and in, offensively and defensively, at the highest level of kids his age in such an incredible way. Coaching him at USA Basketball was unbelievable.”

Collin Chandler | 6-5 | 202 | So.

Pope calls him the most competitive person in the program. He was a bit player last season (2.7 ppg) but will see his minutes and impact increase. On a bench loaded with possibility and lineup combinations, Chandler may well emerge as one of the most important reserves in the SEC. 

Pope: “Off all my guys, I feel like he can’t breathe if there’s not something on the line.”

Kam Williams | 6-5 | 190 | So.

A Tulane transfer who averaged 9.3 points last season and shot 40% from 3 on 4.5 attempts per game. May well play his way into the starting lineup if he maintains that shooting stroke and vaults himself to vital defender. 

Pope: “By the end of the summer, we were like, is he going to be our top defender? Our second or third defender?”

Trent Noah | 6-5 | 220 | So.

He’s one of the best scorers in the history of Kentucky high school basketball. Will again be a bit player, perhaps someone who can jump to 5 points per game, but as a sophomore his voice is emerging more behind the scenes. Pope praised his year-over-year maturation. 

Reece Potter | 7-1 | 215 | Jr.

A local kid who came back home. Potter played in Lexington in high school, then spent the past two seasons at Miami University (Ohio), where he shot 41% as a stretch 5 on a good mid-major team. Pope told me he was one of two players who refused to go home for the summer break and has been living in the gym. 

Braydon Hawthorne | 6-8 | 175 | Fr.

Slender, plenty of potential, might take a couple of years for it all to come together, but how about this Pope quote: “He is one of the most unique kids I’ve ever coached. I don’t know what his ceiling is.” He also invoked Tayshaun Prince, which should turn heads in Lexington.

Andrija Jelavic | 6-11 | Fr.

A Croatian big who played for Mega Superbet and averaged 11 points in the Adriatic League this year. There’s a little more red tape to clear, but the staff is hoping he’s on campus in the next few days. His impact is TBD, but even bringing in a foreign-born prospect with his size and skill only deepens Kentucky’s stable.