It’s back. And if you’re a Kentucky basketball fan, you know what I’m talking about.

It’s back. The feeling is back. You could definitely feel it Saturday when, despite the 11 a.m. start, more than 21,000 Kentucky basketball fans jammed into Rupp Arena to watch the Wildcats take on the Florida Gators for the SEC opener between a pair of AP top-10 teams. BBN didn’t just show up. It stood up. It pumped up the decibels. It lifted the home team when the Cats fell behind by 11 points in the first half. It buzzed over big baskets. It razzed the referees. It joyously celebrated the Cats’ 106-100 win over the Gators in what was one splendid college basketball game. “I’ve been doing this 30 years,” ESPN play-by-play broadcaster Dan Shulman posted on X. “I can count on one hand where both the game and the environment were as good as they were today at Rupp for Kentucky-Florida. College basketball at its best.”

Here’s the thing: Last April, when Rupp Arena joyously welcomed Pope home at his introductory press conference, I wrote that after 15 years of John Calipari, both good and bad, Kentucky fans wanted their program back. And Pope, a captain on UK’s 1996 national championship team, wanted to give it to them.

And he’s done it. In his first nine months on the job, Pope has shown a reverence, appreciation and enthusiasm for the job, and for what Kentucky basketball is all about, that has been accurately described in many circles as a breath of fresh air. BBN has responded to that. There was just something different inside that building on Saturday. When in the postgame press conference, WKYT’s Brian Milam told the UK coach that the atmosphere reminded him of 30 years ago when Pope was a player, you found yourself nodding in agreement.

“There is just nowhere like it,” Pope answered. “BBN was ridiculous tonight. I mean, how fun was it to be in that gym? It was pretty special.” Said UK center Amari Williams, “I felt like the energy from the crowd and the rest of my teammates kind of got me going.”