Does Hunter Yurachek regret it yet?
When the Arkansas athletic director decided to take the gamble and bring in John Calipari to take over the Razorbacks men’s basketball program, Yurachek said one of the factors was Calipari’s ability to ‘build championship teams within the Southeastern Conference.’
Well five games into SEC play and Arkansas looks far from a championship team, and more like the same underachieving unit coming from the $38 million-man.
Even in his first season, it was fair to put some lofty expectations on Calipari; he had a top-five recruiting class and the top transfer portal haul to put the Razorbacks in prime position to contend in the SEC. Arkansas was picked fourth in the preseason poll. Like every other SEC team, the season got off the right foot with an 11-2 start, giving optimism of a promising season.
But it’s been a rocky start in conference play. Arkansas fell to the heavy hitters in Tennessee, Mississippi and Florida − can’t fault it too much there − but the struggles haven’t stopped. This week it endured a loss to LSU and an 18-point thumping by Missouri
Arkansas is 0-5 in the conference − its worst start in league play − and fading away from the NCAA Tournament picture.
If this is a shock or surprise to the fans of the Hogs, it shouldn’t be. Calipari hasn’t been the same clutch coach that made him a household name. He was consistently finding ways to lose against programs he shouldn’t, and it’s carried over into Fayetteville.
‘We’re going to have to figure stuff out,’ Calipari said after the loss to Missouri.
He doesn’t have much time. Thanks to the rugged conference schedule, Arkansas has Georgia, Calipari’s return to Kentucky and Alabama in the next three weeks. The Razorbacks are in trouble, and Calipari is facing another tough end of the season.
Here are other top storylines from the past weekend of action in men’s college basketball:
Upsets galore
Last week, the top 10 teams in the country all faced tough road tests and emerged victorious. That wasn’t the case this time around.
Three of the top seven teams and seven total in the USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll lost to unranked opponents during the week. The biggest shocker was Iowa State, which followed a home win against Kansas with a poor late-game performance against West Virginia for its second loss of the season.
Goes to show there’s plenty of traps for all of the top teams in the country, in addition to the already known tough games, like Alabama leaving Rupp Arena with a win over Kentucky and Georgia unable to pull off the last-second winner against top-ranked Auburn. In closing: no one is safe.
Gonzaga slipping out of the basketball poll
Of all the Top 25 teams, no one had a worse week than Gonzaga. The Bulldogs were battered and bruised during their non-conference slate, and arrived to the comfort of the West Coast Conference, the place they have dominated for more than two decades. However, the Gonzaga has taken more punches, this time unexpectedly.
Conference newcomer Oregon State welcomed Gonzaga to Corvallis and outlasted the Bulldogs in overtime. Gonzaga came back home and Santa Clara put up 103 points − the most the Bulldogs ahve allowed in a home game at ‘The Kennel’ − in another defeat. The back-to-back losses in WCC games were the first since the 2013-14 season.
The Bulldogs won’t see their tournament chances completely be wiped away, but the resume isn’t looking great. They have a 4-6 record in Quad 1 and 2 games. Gonzaga will need a similar late-season run as last year to extend its run of nine consecutive Sweet 16 appearances.
Cooper Flagg, Duke looking like a No. 1 seed
The NBA cellar-dwellers are probably hoping the ping pong balls fall in their favor. Duke freshman Cooper Flagg is looking every bit like a generational talent and primed to be the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA draft as he continues to lead the Blue Devils on a warpath through the ACC.
The ACC isn’t the strongest conference in the country, but Duke has clearly separated itself from the rest of the field with seven of its eight defeats by double digits. With the latest results – a 35-point defeat of Miami and 25-point road victory against Boston College – the Blue Devils have won their ACC games by an average of 23 points.
During ACC play, Flagg has been playing exceptionally. He dropped 28 points against BC for his ninth 20-point game of the season and leads Duke in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks per game. Jon Scheyer’s team has a quality resume and don’t have many obstacles standing in its way the rest of the season, meaning Duke is cruising toward grabbing a No. 1 seed in the tournament.
Louisville continues remarkable turnaround
Pat Kelsey has proven to be a winner wherever he goes, and he’s showing it for a Louisville team that is emerging from the dumps it had been stuck in for years.
The Cardinals continued the ‘ReviVILLE’ by completing their first season sweep of Virginia on Saturday and extending their win streak to eight games. Louisville overwhelmed the slumping Cavaliers early on for their second double-digit victory of the week, and fifth in the past six games.
The 14 wins don’t seem like much, but it’s the most Louisville has had since 2019-20 and it looks like it’ll be headed back to the NCAA field for the first time since 2019. Most importantly, the fanbase is buying in with the KFC Yum! Center getting more and more filled with each game.
Looks like Louisville finally has the right guy in charge.