Big Blue Madness was a hit this past week. Mark Pope looked like a kid in a candy store and his mom just told him to pick out whatever he wanted.

The biggest spectacle for me was Rick Pitino in Kentucky blue. The man was nearly brought to tears, and it was a full-circle moment for Wildcat fans and him.

I’m sure Louisville and St. John fans weren’t too happy to see Rick smiling from ear to ear.

It’s as if Lexington is where he was supposed to be all along.

I love Pope. But I think I would have loved it even more to see Pitino take the Cats to the promise land and finish his career back in the bluegrass.

His return to Camelot was embraced by most, as it should have been.

He resurrected us from the ashes in the ‘90s.

But I am happy with Mark Pope and I’m excited to see him shine.

I’ll also say the glass floor looked incredible and it was a delight to see it turned into a football field.

Mark Stoops took a shot at Cal and confirmed what we already knew: that their relationship wasn’t on the best of terms.

It seems though that Pope is more than willing to work with him and hopefully that stays true in the future.

Trent Noah came out to “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” and was possibly the best BMM intro that I’ve witnessed.

John Wall is a tough one to top, though.

But if you didn’t get chills when you heard, “in the deep dark hills of eastern Kentucky,” it’s hard to call you a true blue fan.

Travis Perry showed us at the Zip Zone Classic last year that he can shoot the lights out.

His three-point showdown with Noah was a thing of dreams. Two Kentucky boys facing off again in Rupp Arena.

Lamont Butler debuted his song “Wildcats,” and it was nice to see the boys having fun.

But I’m not quite sure this will be the year for number nine. Of course, I’ll hope it to be true all season.

I think we need to give it a few years for Pope to spread his wings and fly.

As always, Go Cats.