John Calipari and the No. 4 seed Arkansas Razorbacks opened the 2026 NCAA Tournament with a first-round win, taking down Dre Bullock and the No. 13 seed Hawaii Rainbow Warriors 97-78 on Thursday afternoon. Now, Arkansas will turn its attention to the second round, where it will face the No. 12 seed High Point Panthers.
Calipari's team outplayed Hawaii in just about every facet of the game. The Razorbacks hit a whopping 54% from the field, compared to Hawaii's 45%, and outrebounded the Rainbow Warriors 41 to 31. Freshman Darius Acuff Jr. led the way for Arkansas with 24 points on 9-of-19 shooting, three rebounds and seven assists.
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Entering the game against Hawaii, Calipari had totaled 59 NCAA Tournament wins, including stops at UMass, Memphis and Kentucky. With Arkansas’ win on Thursday, he secured his 60th career tournament victory, becoming just the sixth coach in history to reach that mark.
Ahead of Calipari are former Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim (61 wins) and North Carolina legends Dean Smith (65) and Roy Williams (77). The record for most NCAA Tournament wins by a head coach belongs to Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, who recorded 101 during his Hall of Fame career. Calipari is also tied with Michigan State coach Tom Izzo with 60 wins.
"Most March Madness Wins Of All Time: Mike Krzyzewski - 101 Roy Williams - 77 Dean Smith - 65 Jim Boeheim - 61 John Calipari - 60 Tom Izzo - 60 John Calipari and Tom Izzo are now one of six coaches to have 60+ Tournament wins 🔥 Two legends."
Along with making NCAA Tournament history, Calipari will also be taking home a significant bonus, earning an extra $100,000 for the first-round win. Arkansas will be back in the second round on Saturday against High Point.
