John Calipari and his "underdog" Arkansas Razorbacks have done it. They unleashed hell on the NCAA Tournament in the most John Calipari way possible, knocking out St. John’s in the second round. In the process, they left just 18 perfect brackets, according to ESPN.
But Calipari getting his third straight win over Rick Pitino in the NCAA Tournament didn’t just frustrate Red Storm fans. No, Kentucky fans are boiling in anger, wondering why Calipari’s first Sweet 16 appearance this decade was in his first year with a new team.
You’d have to go back to 2019 for the final time Calipari reached the Sweet 16 with Kentucky. After what felt like years of running college basketball, Calipari ran out of steam with the Wildcats.
It took him all of one season to put it together with Arkansas. In a matter of days, he knocked off Kansas and St. John’s. It looks like we’ve found our March Madness darlings — or villains, depending on your fandom.
John Calipari, Arkansas are carrying the SEC through the NCAA Tournament
When the second round officially tipped off on Saturday, the SEC had an underwhelming 8-6 record in the tournament. No other conference had as many losses as the SEC, which in part comes with the territory when you send 14 teams.
It raised alarms as to why the conference — despite its regular season dominance — was awarded so many bids in the NCAA Tournament. I never would have guessed Calipari would have saved the day.
No SEC team had an impressive win before Arkansas rattled off back-to-back upset wins. That’s how you make your triumphant return to the Sweet 16, Calipari. Texas A&M can pull off the next impressive win for the conference, but even then, I don’t think they’re as dangerous as Arkansas is right now.
St. John’s entered the tournament as the toughest team to score on in college basketball. They ended up scoring the third fewest points they have all season in the loss. Over the past couple of days, Pitino avoided drumming up any drama around playing against Calipari in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in two decades.
Now it will hang over him for at least one more year and certainly until the two coaches meet again in the NCAA Tournament. In the process, Calipari is finally showing why the SEC was as dominant as it was.
Calipari and his underdog squad put an alert for the rest of the tournament field why the SEC was feared coming into the NCAA Tournament.