John Calipari and Rick Pitino will meet again in 2025 NCAA Tournament

by:Adam Luckett•about 18 hours•

adamluckettksr

Dec 21, 2016; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Rick Pitino shakes the hands with Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari before the first half at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated Kentucky 73-70. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

The matchup everyone wanted on Selection Sunday has come to fruition. One of college basketball’s best coaching rivalries will add another chapter on Saturday in Providence. John Calipari and Rick Pitino will meet again on the hardwood. Yet another clash between these two Hall of Fame coaches will occur in the NCAA Tournament.

Despite not knowing what to do against a Kansas triangle-and-two defense, No. 10 seed Arkansas used a late run to pull away from the No. 7 seed Jayhawks. Calipari handed Bill Self his first Round of 64 loss since 2006. St. John’s locked in this highly anticipated matchup in the after dark window by pulling away from No. 15 seed Omaha for a 30-point win after a slow start Amica Mutual Pavilion.

Not even a Hall of Famer is safe pic.twitter.com/0jtk2qOILc
— Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) March 21, 2025

John Calipari is 13-10 in his head coaching career in head-to-head matchups against Rick Pitino in college basketball. The head coaches also faced off in the NBA. This record was buoyed by Calipari’s 8-2 mark at Kentucky when facing Pitino’s Louisville program. Calipari beat Pitino in the 2012 Final Four and again in the 2014 Sweet 16 when Pitino’s squad looked like the favorite to win the national championship. Pitino’s Kentucky team beat Calipari’s UMass squad in the 1996 Final Four. Pitino was 4-1 against Calipari while at Kentucky when Cal was at UMass. The head coaches split eight meetings when Cal was at Memphis and Pitino was at Louisville in the C-USA.

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We will get our fifth meeting between these two college basketball legends in the postseason on Saturday. It will be a rubber match with each coach owning two wins. Everyone who follows the sport will be completely locked in. What could be the final chapter in this historical rivalry will take place in the Round of 32.

Can John Calipari eliminate another Rick Pitino title contender from the NCAA Tournament?

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