When the Arkansas Razorbacks lured John Calipari away from Kentucky, most experts and fans agreed that the best was yet to come for them. It was the dawn of a promising era.
So far, that hasn’t been the case at all. The Razorbacks are 0-4 in conference play, and they’ve been one of the most disappointing teams in all of college basketball this season.
With that in mind, college hoops Jeff Eisenberg made a rather bold prediction about this team, stating that they’re not going to make the NCAA tournament this season.
Arkansas won’t make the NCAA tourney, says expert
“Give John Calipari credit for stumbling upon a foolproof way to avoid extending his streak of early-round NCAA tournament flameouts,” Eisenberg said. “You can’t get Gohlke’d again if you’re watching from the couch. Arkansas is in major jeopardy of missing the NCAA tournament in Calipari’s highly anticipated debut season after an unremarkable non-league showing and a nightmare start in SEC play.”
He then doubled down on his criticism of Coach Cal by pointing out how Mark Pope was able to build a competitive squad at Kentucky despite not having any returning starters:
“Kentucky coach Mark Pope didn’t inherit a single returning player from Calipari, yet the roster he rebuilt on the fly via transfer portal is 14-3 overall and 3-1 in the SEC. There’s still time for Arkansas to dig its way out of this midseason hole, but the Razorbacks’ road to the NCAA tournament is uphill and obstacle-laden,” he added.
Of course, there’s still plenty of basketball to be played this season. Then again, starting off 0-4 gives them no margin for error, and the SEC is one of the most competitive conferences out there.