Arkansas Vs Kentucky Should Be A Good Homecoming For Calipari

Arkansas vs. Kentucky, 9:00 ET

Arkansas vs. Kentucky, 9:00 ET

Homecoming has different meanings for everyone. Some people believe that home is where the heart is. Some people look forward to seeing all their friends and family. Others dread the fact that they have to be around people who have emotionally scarred them for life. A homecoming, in high school, usually means that there are pep rallies and dances for the students. No matter the time, a homecoming brings some emotion one way or another and we get one here as Arkansas takes on Kentucky. 

What homecoming am I talking about with Arkansas? Well that would be the return or homecoming of John Calipari back to Kentucky where he spent a ton of years and brought a National Championship. Calipari didn't really leave on a bad note, so there shouldn't be bad blood here. To be honest, I'm not really sure why he left the school, because Arkansas isn't exactly a more prestigious basketball job than Kentucky. Arkansas also hasn't had the most exciting first season under Calipari with a 12-8 record and a very disappointing 1-6 in conference record. I'm sure someone who doesn't like Calipari will just mention the fact that now that the NIL deals are out in the open Calipari hasn't had super teams or been overly impressive. I would argue that you need to give him a few years and see how he can build this program. Most NBA players who played for Calipari love the guy and still stay in contact with him, and ultimately the best talent should still want to play for the best coaches. Arkansas has lost six of the past seven games. The losses came against Tennessee, Ole Miss, Florida, at LSU, at Missouri, and against Oklahoma. Road losses aren't a surprise for college teams, and the SEC is a challenge. They;ve at least kept most of the losses close with four of the six losses by eight or fewer points.

Kentucky is having a pretty good season overall with a 15-5 record, but they also aren't running through the SEC with just a 4-3 record. Their SEC losses this season are against Georgia on the road, Alabama at home, and Vanderbilt on the road. To their credit, they've lost by just five points to both Alabama and Vanderbilt. Their other losses were a bit concerning because they dropped games to Clemson and Ohio State. The Ohio State loss was very bad because they lost by 20 points. It was on a neutral court, but it obviously was a pretty bad result. Kentucky has six guys that are averaging double-digits in points this season. The other two players who give contributions are only around five points per game, but the team seems to do well without having a very deep roster. Kentucky has beaten some of the better teams in the SEC this year with wins over Florida, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, and Tennessee. This should be an easier matchup than those previous matchups. 

The question that some people have is what kind of welcome Kentucky will give Calipari. As far as the game, there really shouldn't be a contest with Kentucky likely winning this game without too much of a struggle. There will certainly be a bit of emotion, and I expect Arkansas to try and give it their all in this one. I also think the Calipari should put up a decent approach against players that he probably scouted heavily. I think he will have a good plan here and I'm willing to take Arkansas with the points. 

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