You cannot talk about college basketball without talking about John Calipari. Not only is he one of the most successful coaches ever, but he’s also one of the most influential figures.
As such, he often tried to make the most of his leverage to give his conference, the SEC, a bit of a chance. He often advocated for the selection committee to include more SEC teams in the NCAA tournament.
The NCAA committee often ignored his requests while he was in Kentucky, and he constantly put them on blast in public. Now, looking back, he admits he wasn’t right.
John Calipari backpedals on comments about the SEC
“I used to argue ‘we deserve eight teams’ (in the NCAA Tournament),” Calipari said. “I was full of cr*p. There was no way we deserved eight teams. But I was saying it to try and help the league and help everybody. Now we’ve got a couple of games and then we start in an absolute meat grinder. Any win is going to be a big game. … And don’t think, well you’re at home. You may play three Top 5 teams in a row, at home, and get beat.”
John Calipari head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats
Fortunately for the Arkansas coach, SEC teams have done an outstanding job of standing up for themselves this season. According to projections, they could have as many as ten representatives in the tournament, including his Razorbacks.
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Of course, for that to happen, they will have to keep their momentum going next month. That will be easier said than done, as they’ll face three ranked opponents in Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Florida.
