While the Kentucky Wildcats are getting ready to take on Tennessee, their next opponent, the Arkansas Razorbacks, don't have a midweek game. This means on John
The joy and jubilation from the Kentucky victory over No. 8 Tennessee in Knoxville will not linger around Lexington for long. That’s because a date that has been circled on calendars across Big Blue Nation for months is almost here.
Ignore the hype. Ignore the noise. Ignore the circus that is sure to surround the return of John Vincent Calipari, who in a 15-year run as the UK coach took the Wildcats to four Final Fours and a national championship before his Big Blue express ran out of steam.
John Calipari will get most of the attention in Rupp Arena this weekend. Adou Thiero is coming back, too, and he’s been one of the only bright spots in Arkansas’ season.
The hobbled No. 12 Wildcats, down starters Lamont Butler and Andrew Carr, show grit in tense win vs.the No. 8 Volunteers
Contrast that success with Calipari’s first Arkansas team, which needed six tries to notch its first SEC win of the year, and Kentucky fans figure to have plenty of ammunition Saturday. The Razorbacks are just 12-8 overall, and their 1-6 start to SEC play has them looking like a long shot for an NCAA Tournament berth.
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Kentucky men’s basketball fans have a difficult decision ahead of them on Saturday evening when former coach John Calipari makes his grand return to Rupp Arena with Arkansas. To boo or not to boo, that is the question.
John Calipari knows all too well how passionate the Kentucky fan base is, and so he's not naive about what Saturday night could be like.
If Arkansas beats Kentucky on Saturday, I can see a movie in the works: Call it "The Calipari Redemption," with speaking roles for Morgan Freeman as trail-blazing basketball coaches Nolan Richardson and Orlando "Tubby" Smith.