As soon as the words, “Rick Pitino and St. John’s,” aired across the CBS broadcast to announce the Johnnies’ seeding in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, the crowd tuning into Selection Sunday inside Rupp Arena got loud.
A collective “Oohh” could be heard alongside some claps as the Kentucky crowd recognized what could potentially unfold in Providence this weekend.
By placing the Red Storm as a No. 2 seed in the West region, it set up a possible matchup against John Calipari and the No. 10 seed Arkansas Razorbacks in next Saturday’s second round.
Or, let’s be fair, it set up the potential next chapter in the Pitino vs. Calipari blood feud.
Even Wildcats coach Mark Pope -— who won a national title with Pitino in 1996 and succeeded Calipari at Kentucky — chuckled upon seeing what the NCAA had done with this quadrant of the bracket
If I know anything about coach (Pitino), he wants all the smoke, man,” Pope said. “He wants all the smoke. Bring it! It’s so competitive, every single round is so competitive. Every single team, whether there’s a 16 by your name or a one, these are all championship-caliber teams.
“At the end of the day, probably the names don’t matter that much. Everybody’s fighting for their life and that’s why the NCAA Tournament is so beautiful. It’s the greatest sporting event in the world.”
Pitino and Calipari have developed quite the rivalry throughout the years, with an in-state feud, Kentucky history and even conference supremacy factoring into the mix.
Both coaches won one national title with the Wildcats, which creates the classic debate of which coach had the better run with the program.
Pitino posted an .814 winning percentage over eight seasons before bolting for the NBA, while Calipari notched a .769 winning percentage over 15 seasons before exiting for SEC rival Arkansas
The two coaches battled as Conference USA foes for four seasons from 2002-05 while Pitino guided Louisville and Calipari helmed Memphis.
Then, in 2009, the two became the faces of one of the most heated in-state rivalries in all of sports when Calipari took the Kentucky job.
Add in some NBA battles and how Calipari did not appreciate being compared to Pitino as he blossomed as a coach early in his career, and you have the makings of an all-time coaching feud
While it may be fun to believe the tournament committee purposefully set up this message, Pitino didn’t seem to think that’s the case.
“I don’t think so,” Pitino said Sunday. “They many times have these theories about who they match up, but they don’t do it that way. I’ve asked Dave Gavitt about that and they aren’t looking for made-for-television theater, they want the best matchups, metrics-wise.”
