Like clockwork throughout almost every season during his tenure with the Kentucky Wildcats (particularly at the end of the road), John Calipari would infuriate Big Blue Nation with a nearly inexplicable loss. They would go on the road against an inferior SEC opponent and drop a game that, frankly, they couldn't afford to. That was just how things often went and is one of many reasons Coach Cal is now with the Arkansas Razorbacks.
If the fans in Fayetteville would've asked their SEC foes in Lexington, though, the Wildcats faithful certainly could've told them that Saturday's game against South Carolina was entirely too predictable.
Arkansas was slated to go on the road to Columbia for a matchup with a Gamecocks team with just one win in SEC play entering Saturday. It would've been a win that didn't do much for the Razorbacks' NCAA Tournament resumé, given that it's against one of college basketball's worst power conference opponents. However, a loss would always be crippling for a team barely on the right side of the bubble.
What about a blowout loss to one-win South Carolina?
Well, Arkansas is about to find out exactly what that would mean because the Gamecocks took no prisoners in an embarrassing effort from Cal and Arkansas.
Another inexplicable John Calipari loss puts Arkansas in bubble trouble
It would be difficult to imagine things going worse for Arkansas than they did in Columbia on Saturday. The Hogs shot below 13% in the first half to go into the locker room trailing by a 32-14 margin. It only got worse from there as South Carolina piled it on, leading by more than 30 at one point, before coasting to the finish line and a 72-53 win over Calipari's team.
Even if you thought that Calipari and the Razorbacks might have a letdown game in them, this is a knee-capping loss based on their current positioning. Jerry Palm of CBS Sports all but warned the projected 11-seed that a loss to the Gamecocks at all would put their March Madness hopes in jeopardy or at least on life support. That doesn't factor in what a loss by margin to South Carolina does — but it's definitely not good.
Making that worse for Arkansas is that several other bubble teams already took care of business, including North Carolina winning handily over Miami and one of Texas or Georgia winning a head-to-head matchup later on Saturday. This is a loss that could legitimately push the Razorbacks out of the field of 68 when, based on the matchup on parper, there's no way that should've ever been the case.
History would've told Kentucky fans that a game like this was coming, even if their own efforts against Auburn didn't allow Big Blue Nation to celebarate Calipari's shortcomings.