© Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
The Arkansas basketball team opened up SEC Tournament play on Wednesday with a matchup against South Carolina. The Razorbacks entered the event squarely on the Big Dance bubble.
Success over the next few days would ensure a March Madness bid in Year 1 of the John Calipari era. It made the head coach’s recent comments all the more interesting.
Calipari was asked about the importance of the week to come, as well as the preparations he’s putting in to get ready for the postseason. He said he didn’t care about the SEC Tournament.
“I don’t care about the conference tournament… I could care less. The tournament that matters is the NCAA Tournament.”
-John Calipari
The SEC quickly showed it didn’t care about him being there.
The league disrespected John Calipari and Arkansas before tipoff.
A hype video was played before the Razorbacks took the court. It was a highlight reel of the 2023-24 season.
well this is kinda awkward pic.twitter.com/nodBCZqXZ6
— Ethan Westerman (@EthWestNWA) March 12, 2025
No one in that clip has ties to this year’s squad. Arkansas is a completely different team than they were a year ago.
Not only is the coaching staff new, but the Hogs returned just one scholarship player from last season’s roster. The rest of the lineup is filled with freshmen and transfers brought in by Calipari.
It was probably just a mix-up on the league’s part. Conspiracy theorists might believe it was calculated. John Calipari’s pre-tournament words only fueled that narrative.
It will be interesting to see if the footage changes ahead of the Razorbacks’ next game. Arkansas escaped with a 72-68 win in the opener against the Gamecocks. They’ll face Ole Miss on Thursday.