Andraya Carter on John Calipari: 'The worst thing you can do after a breakup is show up to the club with a downgrade'

John Calipari makes his highly-anticipated return to Rupp Arena on Saturday night wearing Arkansas red along with a handful of former Kentucky players and one-time recruits. One of the biggest topics of debate has been what Big Blue Nation’s reaction should be coming in.

ESPN’s Andraya Carter used an interesting analogy to describe why she believes BBN won’t be exactly welcoming of their old head coach. If Arkansas hadn’t lost six of its first seven games in SEC play, the argument would be a bit different.

“The only thing that’s really going to make it feel better is if [Arkansas] can shut the crowd up,” Carter said. “If his team can go out there and perform to a level where the crowd can’t even get into it — but that’s going to be the struggle.

“Listen, the worst thing you can do after a breakup is show up to the club with a downgrade. … Like y’all know when you show up to the bar, your new isn’t as good as your old was, and everybody’s just looking at you like — you have to show up with an upgrade. That’s the only way everybody is quiet. So, if Arkansas could come in and shut the crowd up by playing at a high level, that is the only thing.”

Kentucky fans will remember Rick Pitino’s first time back in Rupp Arena in 2001, coming out of the UK tunnel to the chorus of 20,000 booing fans in the arena. However, he returned as the head coach of Kentucky’s most bitter rival, Louisville. While Arkansas is still a fellow SEC school, the rivalry does not have ties as deep as the battle for the Bluegrass.

On one hand, Calipari is the man who took Kentucky to even Elite Eight’s, four Final Four’s, two national title appearances and the 2012 NCAA Championship. He won 410 games, contributing to Ketucky’s status as one of the all-time winningest program in college basketball history and is the program’s second all-time winningest head coach behind Adolph Rupp.

On the other, some fans feel as though Calipari left UK high and dry just days after going on a local news station with AD Mitch Barnhart to reaffirm his commitment to the program. Some fans haven’t gotten the bitter taste of the last five years worth of postseason woes out of their mouths, either.

No matter which side of BBN you’re on, everyone inside Rupp Arena will want to send the Razorbacks back to Fayetteville with a loss. For Arkansas, there’s nothing they’d want more than to play spoiler in an arena where Calipari has won in more than any head coach in history.