What the National Media is Saying About John Calipari's Arkansas vs. Kentucky

The highly-anticipated return of John Calipari to Rupp Arena is almost here. Before the old Kentucky coach makes his homecoming, let’s check in with what folks around the national media landscape are saying about the upcoming spectacle.

Myron Medcalf Details the Highs and Lows of the Calipari Era

Kentucky basketball fans typically define the Calipari era into two, with 2015 serving as the schism. ESPN’s Myron Medcalf broke his 15 years into five different segments to describe the roller coaster we experienced.

At the highest of highs, Jay-Z and Drake were rapping about the Cats in the most popular songs in America. Calipari made Kentucky cool, then won a title. He nearly pulled off an undefeated season. The sky was the limit.

“It seemed then as if Calipari’s greatest years had just started. If Mike Krzyzewski was the king of college basketball, then Calipari was the game’s prince. The truth, however, was that Kentucky had unknowingly peaked,” writes Medcalf.

The lows didn’t happen right away. It gradually eroded, starting with the buzzer-beating loss to North Carolina in the 2017 Elite Eight. The rules changed, and so did Calipari’s grip on talent. Eventually, he failed to change too.

“You know,” one former staffer told Medcalf, “Calipari only does things one way.”

Ryan McGee: “Breakups are hard, even when you both know it’s the right thing to do.”

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Wolken: Kentucky in an Era of Good Feelings with Mark Pope

The final caller on today’s edition of Kentucky Sports Radio proposed that Wildcat fans should thank John Calipari tomorrow. We should be grateful that he left Lexington. USA Today’s Dan Wolken agrees.

“If Calipari had simply returned for his 16th season, Kentucky would not be ranked No. 12 and enjoying its Era of Good Feelings under Mark Pope, who has leaned all the way into the unique and sometimes overheated relationship between this basketball program and Big Blue Nation.

“Instead, Kentucky would look almost exactly like Arkansas does now: A team languishing at 1-6 in the SEC, almost certain to miss the NCAA men’s tournament, with a defiantly aloof coach trying to stave off a nuclear meltdown the likes of which college basketball has never seen.”

Andy and Ari

John Calipari RETURNING to Rupp Arena on Saturday | Arkansas vs Kentucky with Coach Cal in Lexington

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Xs and Ox Behind the Kentucky vs. Arkansas Matchup

We all know the storylines, but how do these teams actually match up? The Athletic’s Jim Root broke down how each team got to this point in the season, with Kentucky ascending as Arkansas scratches and claws to hang on for dear life. As Root sees it, the offense is the primary issue for the Hogs, who rank last in 2-point and 3-point percentage against SEC foes. It’s only a year after Calipari had one of his best offensive seasons in Lexington.

“Considering how potent Calipari’s final Kentucky offense was, this unit is a clear disappointment. Notably, the architect of that free-flowing system, assistant John Welch, took the associate head coach job at Fresno State this offseason. Calipari replaced him on the staff with old friend Kenny Payne, the former Wildcats assistant who most recently oversaw Louisville’s catastrophically poor run from 2022 to 2024 as head coach.”

KSR + The Athletic: Why the Pope Honeymoon at Kentucky Won’t End

Instead of putting the onus completely on John Calipari, The Athletic’s CJ Moore turned the attention to Mark Pope. His early success is in part because of the way he contrasts with his predecessor, but that only plays a part in it.

“Pope’s sky-high approval rating isn’t a product of his team’s ranking, or even a trickle-down effect of national championship dreams. It’s because he gets them. He’s one of them. He knows what it means to them. He’s back in Lexington for the first time since 1996, but they can tell his heart never left,” Moore writes.

To understand just how much the Kentucky head coach gets BBN, Moore spent time talking with Matt Jones, who admitted nearly quit the radio show last year because it became “so unenjoyable.” Pope has injected life back into Big Blue Nation in a way that no one else could.