Did schedule gods conspire against Kentucky for John Calipari? Blame the SEC

After months of waiting, the moment that Kentucky fans — and really, sports fans across the country — have been waiting for is almost here. On Saturday, Arkansas will travel to Lexington to take on the Wildcats in John Calipari's first trip to Rupp Arena since jilting the program for their conference rival last spring. Given the way Coach Cal left, and where he wound up, the atmosphere in Lexington promises to be electric.

It sure seems so far like Kentucky got the better end of that divorce, with the Wildcats boasting one of the best offenses in the nation while Calipari's Razorbacks have started a woeful 1-6 in conference play. But the powers that be in the SEC made sure to do their best to level the playing field ahead of the most hotly anticipated game of the season — and made sure Mark Pope had his work cut out for him.

SEC didn't do Kentucky any schedule favors ahead of showdown against John Calipari, Arkansas

If Pope gets Kentucky some revenge against Calipari this weekend, he and his team will have really, really earned it. While the SEC presents something of a gauntlet for every team in the conference this season, the schedule disparity between the Wildcats and Arkansas this week is downright laughable.

The Razorbacks have faced just one ranked team in their last four games, traveling to LSU and Missouri before hosting Georgia and Oklahoma (a stretch in which Calipari has gone just 1-3). Arkansas' last game came against the Sooners on Saturday, meaning they'll have a full week to rest up and prepare for the trip to Rupp.

Kentucky, meanwhile has been given a true murderer's row of late. The Wildcats have faced just one currently unranked team all month, a road trip against a feisty Georgia squad, and their last four games have come at No. 14 Mississippi State, home against No. 13 Texas A&M, home against No. 4 Alabama and at No. 24 Vanderbilt. As if that weren't rugged enough, they have another game coming up on Tuesday night, traveling to Rocky Top to take on No. 8 Tennessee.

That's a downright brutal stretch, and it'd be totally understandable if the Wildcats were feeling a little ragged at the end of it. Kentucky is undoubtedly the better team than Arkansas at this point in the season, but you know that Calipari will have the Razorbacks extra motivated for the trip to Rupp. If Pope can't get his team up and ready to go, they could be in for a rude awakening.