The Kentucky Wildcats have a first-round NCAA Tournament game of their own to prepare for against 14-seed Troy on Friday, but if you think that would stop their fans from finding some time to root against John Calipari and Arkansas, well, you must not know very many Kentucky fans. (Either that, or you've been under a rock for the last 12 months or so.)
Unfortunately for Big Blue Nation, they didn't get their wish on Thursday night, as Calipari and the Razorbacks made the clutch plays down the stretch to outlast 7-seed Kansas and move on to the second round. It's another step forward in what's been a remarkable turnaround for the Hogs, who looked dead in the water just a couple of months ago after a dreadful start to SEC play.
But Coach Cal and Arkansas would figure things out in a big way, rallying to not only make the NCAA Tournament but now get within one win of the program's fourth Sweet 16 appearance in five years. It's not the development Kentucky fans were hoping for, but if they're looking for someone to blame for the lack of schadenfreude, they can start in the mirror.
Win over Kentucky was the turning point for John Calipari's first season at Arkansas
This set of circumstances would've been nearly impossible to imagine even a few weeks ago. Arkansas dropped six of its first seven SEC games, and with star freshman Boogie Fland lost due to injury, there seemed to be little to no hope of mounting a push for an at-large bid to the Big Dance.
Everything changed, however, with a trip to Lexington. Maybe the electric atmosphere at Rupp Arena was the wake-up call the team needed. Maybe it just took them a couple of games to adjust to life without Fland and start building the offense around transfer guard Johnell Davis. Whatever the reason, Arkansas looked like a whole different team in Calipari's much-anticipated meeting with Kentucky, storming to an impressive 89-79 win.
At the time, it seemed like something to build on for the future, a silver lining in a lost season. Little did we know it would turn the Hogs' whole season around: Including that Kentucky win, Arkansas closed the year with a 7-4 stretch that, combined with a win in the first round of the SEC Tournament, was enough to earn them a 10-seed on Selection Sunday. And now they're moving on, set to take on Rick Pitino and St. John's in the second round on Saturday.
It's not hard to imagine everything going very, very differently. Had the Razorbacks lost their game at Kentucky, who knows what would've happened? Maybe the bottom would've fallen out, as Calipari struggles to keep together a mercenary roster. Maybe one fewer Quad 1 win makes the difference on the bubble, or at lesat bumps the Hogs to the First Four. Kentucky had the chance to deliver the kill shot to its old coach, but now he's roared back to life.