After Arkansas’ men’s basketball team finished the regular season on a high note on Saturday, coach John Calipari called out critics who buried the Razorbacks earlier in the season.
With Saturday’s 93-92 upset win over Mississippi State, Arkansas finished its regular season with an 8-10 record in SEC play. The Razorbacks closed out the year by winning four of their final five games, which was a stark difference from how they started the conference season. While Arkansas headed into SEC play with a solid 11-2 record, the Razorbacks lost their first five conference games by an average of more than 12 points. At the time, it felt like Arkansas was a longshot to make the NCAA Tournament. But after Saturday’s win, the outlook is significantly better — something Calipari pointed out.
“Everyone put us in a coffin after 0-5,” Calipari said, H/T Jackson Collier of the Hardwood Hogs Podcast. “They just forgot the nails.”
Calipari roughly on postgame radio: “Everyone put us in a coffin after 0-5… they just forgot the nails.”
— JC Hoops (@JacksonCollier) March 8, 2025
We can understand Calipari being proud of his team for overcoming what was a nightmare start to SEC play. That said, the criticism the Razorbacks were getting wasn’t just from the outside. At times, Calipari was even included in the “everyone” he mentioned.
Calipari made his frustrations with the team known in a press conference after a tough loss to Texas A&M in February. While he didn’t say that the Razorbacks were done, he emphatically stated, “It’s not OK to say we’ll be alright,” frustrated that his team squandered a chance to beat a quality opponent.
Things have changed sense then, though, with Arkansas defeating two ranked opponents (No. 15 Missouri and No. 25 Mississippi State) in the season’s final five games.
That said, while the Razorbacks have a brighter outlook, they’re far from a lock to reach the NCAA Tournament. Arkansas will be seeded ninth in the SEC Tournament and an early loss could be quite harmful to its NCAA Tournament hopes.
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