John Calipari on Arkansas' NCAA Tournament chances: 'The committee will make a decision'

John Calipari has been on the NCAA Tournament bubble before. And while it’s rarely the most gratifying position to be in at the end of the regular season, it’s one the first-year Arkansas head coach is well-versed in navigating.

Following Saturday’s 93-92 win vs. No. 25 Mississippi State, the Razorbacks’ fourth win in its last five games, Arkansas (19-12, 8-10 SEC) is hoping it’s done enough to secure a bid in the 2025 NCAA Tournament field, with or without a long run in next week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville.

For his part, Calipari is leaving it up to those ultimately making that call.

“You never … the committee will make a decision. You (can’t) get out ahead of yourself. We just have to keep trying to get better,” Calipari said during Saturday’s postgame press conference. “They told me we have South Carolina, who beat us and they were up 40 – no, literally, they were up 40 – and that’s who we’ve got to play in the (SEC) Tournament. So let’s just worry about that. The other stuff will take care of itself. We talked about it.”

Winners of two straight, Arkansas secured the No. 9 seed and opens SEC Tournament play against No. 16 seed South Carolina (12-19, 2-16) at 1 pm ET Wednesday from inside Bridgestone Arena. Meanwhile, the Gamecocks opened conference play with 13 consecutive losses but manage to rock the Razorbacks, 72-53, at home on March 1 for the second of its two conference wins this seasons.

Of course, Calipari knows a thing or two about losing streaks. Arkansas dropped five straight to open SEC play before going 8-5 over the final 13 games of the regular season.

“I’m just … look, I said this before: there’s going to be stretches in this league where teams are going to lose 3, 4, 5 in a row. You’re going to lose five of six, you’re going to lose four of five. Can you keep your team together?” Calipari added. “We lost five in a row, and all I talked about was we’ve just got to stick together and we’ll be fine. So now, we’re still standing, we’re playing pretty good.”

John Calipari acknowledges ‘the rent’s still due’ for Arkansas ahead of SEC Tournament

Its because of that late-season surge that the Razorbacks appear set to make the 2025 NCAA Tournament field. Both On3 bracketologist James Fletcher III and ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi have Arkansas making the 68-team field as one of the “Last Four Byes” to avoid a play-in game situation, with Fletcher projecting the Hogs as the No. 11 seed in the West Regional while Lunardi has them as a No. 10 seed in the Midwest Regional.

Calipari praised the strong play from his shorthanded bench in Saturday’s win, with senior forward Jonas Aidoo finishing second on the team with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 10 rebounds off the bench. Sophomore guard D.J. Wagner led the way with 24 points, junior forward Trevon Brazile added 11 points and 11 rebounds, and freshman forward Billy Richmond III added 10 points also off the bench.

“We end up shooting again over 50-percent from the two. We did some good stuff. Jonas (Aidoo) makes us different. Billy (Richmond II) makes us different. Karter (Knox) didn’t play as well today, but OK. I thought in the first half Z (Zvonimir Ivisic) did pretty good, the second half he just got pushed around and couldn’t come up with the ball. But we’re OK if it’s two, because we’ve only got seven,” Calipari continued. “And are you ready for this? The rent’s still due. So two go down, you can play with five. But if three or four don’t show, you’re not winning. It’s done. That’s it.

“That’s why I said it’s their responsibility to get yourself in a great frame of mind. You know what I did for two days? We practiced at noon on Thursday and at 11 o’clock (Friday). We had an early breakfast yesterday and stretched. Why did I do that? … So, we can come into today and I don’t have any regrets. We did everything we could, and these kids responded to it.”