John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks are on a heater in the midst of March Madness. The Razorbacks have yet to lose in March, and entered the NCAA Tournament after beating the Vanderbilt Commodores 86-75 in the SEC Tournament. The No. 4 seed in the West Regional, the Razorbacks blitzed the No. 13 seed Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors 97-78 in their opening round matchup.
Arkansas is led by its star guard Darius Acuff Jr. The phenom Freshman averages a team high in points per game at 23.0, assists per game at 6.6 and minutes per game at 35.1 per game. Draft experts predict that Acuff could potentially declare early, joining the likes of current NBA stars such as the Washington Wizards' Anthony Davis, Karl Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks and others as Calipari "one and done's".
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"Coach Cal", as his former players will often call him, is an enigmatic personality in college basketball. Marred by controversy early in his career, Calipari eventually stabilized his image at the University of Kentucky. The three-time Naismith Coach of the Year spent fifteen years in Lexington, winning a National Championship in 2012 and 410 games, including 32 in the NCAA Tournament.
Calipari left the Wildcats after the 2023-2024 season and has spent his last two years with the Razorbacks. He led Arkansas to a Sweet 16 run his first season, first defeating the No. 7 Kansas Jayhawks and then upsetting the No. 2 St. John's Red Storm and his rival, Rick Pitino. That was as far as their dreams would go, as Coach Cal and his Razorbacks fell to the Texas Tech Red Raiders 85-83 in the next round.
This year, the legendary head coach is back up to his old tricks, finding himself winning big in the middle of March Madness. The victory over the Rainbow Warriors was Calipari's 60th career tournament victory, moving him up to fourth all-time on the list. Ahead of him on the list are Duke Blue Devil legend Mike Krzyzewski (101), his North Carolina Tar Heel and Kansas Jayhawk counterpart Roy Williams (77), and the UNC legend Dean Smith (65).
"Last night’s victory moved Coach Calipari to 4th all-time in wins," the Razorbacks wrote on X. "It was also his 60th tournament victory. Congrats, Coach!"
Arkansas will play the No. 12 seed High Point Panthers Saturday at 9:45 p.m. ET at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
