John Calipari has absolutely no shame in last-ditch effort to get Arkansas off the bubble

The Arkansas Razorbacks are probably going to the NCAA Tournament in John Calipari's first season with the program, but little is guaranteed this time of year. ESPN's Joe Lunardi currently pegs Arkansas as a No. 10 seed, listed among the "last four byes" for March Madness. So, while Arkansas appears to have a cushion to work with, that cushion can evaporate in an instant if the committee throws a few curveballs. Especially with conference tournaments wrapping up today.

It has been an uneven debut campaign for Calipari in Fayetteville, as expected. He basically built this team from scratch, starting with a nice batch of Kentucky holdovers and then looking to the transfer portal and recruiting to round things out.

The end result was a decidedly good team with almost zero pre-established chemistry, save for those with experience playing together at Kentucky. Arkansas' roster is a haphazard amalgamation of high-level transfers, like Johnell Davis and Adou Thiero, and Cal's standard influx of highly touted freshmen.

Arkansas cruised well enough through the early portion of the season, but hit more than a few roadblocks in SEC play. That said, Cal's squad did finish fairly strong, with marquee wins over Kentucky, Missouri, and Mississippi State to bolster their NCAA Tournament claim.

Just in case there are any lingering doubts about Arkansas' resume, however, Calipari is pulling an ace out of his sleeve. Star freshman guard Boogie Fland has been medically cleared to play and is expected back on the floor in the NCAA Tournament, just in the nick of time.

Arkansas miraculously welcomes back Boogie Fland just in time for the NCAA Tournament

Fland has been out since mid-January with a broken hand. This is a shocking development, as Calipari alluded to a much longer recovery timeline just days earlier. Here is how Seth Greenburg broke the news on national television:

"I just got a text from John Calipari. Boogie Fland is working out. He's expected to go full-practice tomorrow. Unless he gets a setback, they expect him to play in their next game."

Now, I am not here to proclaim medical malpractice, but it's hard to overstate just how sudden this revelation is. Folks didn't expect to see Fland again until the start of the 2025-26 NBA season. Now, in what is a drastic shift from Arkansas' narrative compared to this Wednesday, Fland is on track to practice all week and participate in March Madness.

If nothing else, this sure feels like something the Razorbacks were trying to keep close to the vest. One could read a bit of strategy into Calipari's timing, as Arkansas' NCAA Tournament case gets much stronger with Fland back in the mix. Especially with Adou Thiero, their best player, doubtful for the NCAA Tournament opener, should Arkansas even make it.

This is great news for Fland and Arkansas fans, of course. The talented freshman was enjoying a productive season before the injury, even cracking the lottery on NBA Draft boards. We know the robust history of guards in the Coach Cal system. Fland is far from perfect, but he's a dynamic pick-and-roll operator with a feathery pull-up jumper that leaves defenses vulnerable at all times. He's averaging 15.1 points, 5.7 assists, and 1.5 steals on .391/.365/.839 splits in 34.1 minutes this season.

D.J. Wagner was thrust into a much larger role in Fland's absence — a stress test he hasn't always proven capable of handling. Fland's return does meaningfully change Arkansas' outlook, but it's fair to be more than a little curious about when and how this all went down.