College Sports

Arkansas Coach Returns to Familiar Situation as NCAA Tournament Begins

John Calipari is back in the Northeast, where he started as a head coach at Massachusetts in 1988, and he’s again an underdog.
Arkansas Coach Returns to Familiar Situation as NCAA Tournament Begins
John Calipari, head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, instructs his players as they take on the South Carolina Gamecocks at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on March 12, 2025. Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Matthew Davis
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Arkansas head coach John Calipari will lead a team in his 23rd NCAA men’s basketball tournament on Thursday, but this time it feels different.

Calipari’s Razorbacks (20–13) will play as a No. 10 seed against the No. 7 seed Kansas Jayhawks (21–12) at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island. He’s back in the Northeast and back to an unknown he once experienced when he took his first coaching job at Massachusetts in 1988.

Matthew Davis
Matthew Davis
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Matthew Davis is an experienced, award-winning journalist who has covered major professional and college sports for years. His writing has appeared on Heavy, the Star Tribune, and The Catholic Spirit. He has a degree in mass communication from North Dakota State University.