Mitch Barnhart is retiring in June

Pope's victory over Vanderbilt effectively ensured that UK would get into the NCAA Tournament, and thus ended any chances that Barnhart would have to make a change in the men's basketball program after the season.  Now Barnhart has made clear that he will be retiring in June, which means that Pope's fate will be in the hands of the new AD, who will presumably wait to see how Pope does next year.

At one point, I had outlined a fairly long entry for the Heath Post to be called "The Two Mitches," about why Kentuckians so often find themselves being led by folks like Mitch McConnell and Mitch Barnhart.  It was going to be a rumination on conservatism, aristocracy, tradition, and populism.  But now I don't have to write it up.