Paul Finebaum spoke about the dynamic between Kentucky fans and Arkansas coach John Calipari in an interview on Tuesday.
Calipari is in his first season as Arkansas’s head coach after leaving Kentucky last offseason. After a string of NCAA Tournament failures with the Wildcats, Calipari has Arkansas as a surprise Sweet 16 participant in his first year on the job in Fayetteville.
According to Finebaum, Arkansas’s tourney run is already a “colossal disaster” for Big Blue Nation.
“I think it’s already been a colossal disaster for Big Blue Nation because they didn’t want [Calipari] to even get in the tournament, let alone get where they are,” Finebaum said on Andy and Ari. “Winning Saturday for Mark Pope was significant. But there’s a lot going on there. I know schadenfreude is a big word, but this has boomeranged on them. In mid-January, Cal had to chance of making the field and Kentucky was feeling pretty good. And then he goes up there [to Lexington] and wins that game.”
Here’s a clip of Finebaum’s comments:
Indeed, Arkansas’s win over Kentucky in Lexington earlier this season proved to be the catalyst for the Razorbacks. After starting out 1-6 in SEC play, the Hogs rallied to an 8-10 conference record which was enough to comfortably make the field of 64.
Because Arkansas and Kentucky are on opposite sides of the bracket, they will not meet in this year’s NCAA Tournament unless its in the National Championship game.
Arkansas will face Texas Tech for a spot in the Elite Eight later this week. Kentucky will meet Tennessee for a third time this season.
