John Calipari twists knife in Kentucky return with Arkansas upset win: Best memes, tweets

John Calipari made his long-awaited return to Rupp Arena on Saturday night. He was dressed in a slick maroon suit, the primary color of the Arkansas Razorbacks.

After his amicable departure from the Kentucky Wildcats in the offseason, Calipari set about rebuilding the Arkansas program in Fayetteville. That has involved carrying over quite a bit of Kentucky DNA. Three of his starters for Saturday night's game (Zvonimir Ivisic, D.J. Wagner, Adou Thiero) were playing for Kentucky a season ago. Another, Karter Knox, is the brother of former Wildcat (and Cal progeny) Kevin Knox.

To nobody's surprise, Cal was showered with boos as he entered the arena for the first time in enemy colors. Such is life as a head coach in the SEC. Calipari spent 15 remarkably successful seasons in Lexington, bringing 410 wins and a championship to Big Blue Nation. After a couple recent postseason flameouts, however, fans were ready to move on from the biggest name in college hoops.

Their frustration was understandable. Cal was incredible when it came to recruiting top prospects and developing NBA talent, but he couldn't always put the best rotations on the floor or execute strategy when the lights got bright. Many, justifiably, thought the game had passed Cal by, or criticized him for being more focused on recruitment than establishing an actual winning formula.

The first season under Mark Pope in Lexington has been a relative success, but Kentucky fans were served an ice-cold helping of revenge on Saturday. The Razorbacks, just 1-6 in SEC play entering Rupp Arena, emerged with a commanding 89-79 victory over the 12th-ranked Wildcats.

It was undoubtedly a satisfying moment for Calipari — and the interent.

Social media has a field day as John Calipari, Arkansas take down Kentucky on the road

This was a huge victory for Arkansas. It's more than sweet revenge and a nice memory for later — it's a lifeline for the Razorbacks' waning March Madness hopes.

It has been a struggle for Arkansas in conference play, but the Razorbacks now have an impressive top-15 win on their resume. Cal is quietly putting together the necessary pieces to sneak Arkansas into the final 68-team field.

There is much more Arkansas has to do to ensure a postseason bid, of course, but Cal offered folks a nice reminder on Saturday. He is, quite literally, one of the greatest coaches to ever walk a sideline in college basketball. He is not perfect, and his last few years in Kentucky were rife with disappointment, but he can still put a winning team on the court. The Wildcats looked completely outclassed in this one.

It'll take a while for Mark Pope to live this one down. He's a Kentucky legend and a beloved figure in Lexington, but folks will naturally begin to question Cal's exit after this performance. Not that they should, but we know how college hoops fandom works. There will be anxious radio callers tomorrow morning in Lexington, waxing poetic about the good ol' days under Cal and wondering if Kentucky was too quick to pull the plug on its second-winningest head coach.