The Arkansas Razorbacks swung for the fences in hiring John Calipari away from Kentucky, and may have come up short. Arkansas lost its former head coach Eric Musselman to the USC Trojans vacancy last offseason. Blessed with its big-pocketed boosters like the Tyson Family, Arkansas was able to get Calipari to leave Lexington after a near-two-decade run. They were not sad to see him go.
Heading into the final week of the regular season, Arkansas is every bit on the bubble. The Hogs are 17-12 on the season, but only 6-10 in SEC play. Their awful loss to a sub-.500 South Carolina team had Arkansas fans fuming about his declining in-game tactics and odd lineup construction. It is why ESPN's Joe Lunardi has Arkansas as one of his last four in heading into the final week of the season.
The Razorbacks have a challenging next two games at Vanderbilt on Tuesday night, followed up by a regular-season finale at home vs. Mississippi State. Barring something unforeseen that happens in the ensuing SEC Tournament, both the Commodores and the Bulldogs should be making the men's tournament quite comfortably. Arkansas is projected to be the last of 12 SEC teams to make it in.
Arkansas really needs to split the pair with Vanderbilt and Mississippi State to give itself a chance.
Arkansas fans are learning what Kentucky fans know about John Calipari
It is an interesting paradigm for Calipari taking over in Fayetteville. On one hand, he has the Hogs on the brink of making the NCAA Tournament in his first year at the helm. He may be known for his ability to win with freshman as the first major adopter of the one-and-done roster-building philosophy. However, the game has changed on him in the world of NIL. Other coaches are willing to dabble now.
On the other hand, Calipari took over an Arkansas program that was firing on all cylinders under Musselman. It is why he was such a hot commodity to replace Andy Enfield at USC last offseason. Historically, Arkansas is one of the better basketball programs in the SEC. The drop-off from the greatest in Kentucky to a near-blue-blood in Arkansas should not be this vast for one Calipari.
The other big factor in all this is the SEC has leveled up massively in recent years on the hardwood. Back when Calipari took over at Kentucky, he really only had to worry about Billy Donovan at Florida. Calipari may be an exceptional recruiter and program builder, but he continually gets worked on the sidelines by far more tactical head coaches. The game has caught up to him, but did it pass him by?
All I know is Arkansas fans will be massively disappointed if the Hogs did not make the tournament.