No national enquirers foresaw the earth-shattering disruptions of the Southeastern Conference hoops social circles caused when Arkansas business tycoon John Tyson lured his friend John Calipari from Kentucky last March.
The salacious news went beyond the parochial confines of the SEC and even threatened to pre-empt the 2024 NCAA National Title game between defending national champion Connecticut and SEC upstart Alabama.
The bosom buddies graciously chose to delay the official announcement of their imminent wedding plans as a jilted and embittered Big Blue Nation suddenly turned into green-eyed monsters watching from their living rooms with the rest of the country. Since then, the rest of the SEC has retooled themselves and anxiously await their turn in the spotlight.
No. 5 Alabama, No. 2 Auburn and No. 1 Tennessee — Arkansas' opponent in the conference opener Saturday at noon central in Knoxville — have all vindicated their national-title-contending preseason prospects going into the start of SEC play.
Meanwhile, No. 10 Kentucky has landed on their feet with a homely new coach from their own lineage. Coach Cal however — once considered the sexiest catch in all of college basketball — has struggled through lingering injuries and some post-honeymoon doubts to sneak back into the rankings at No. 23 with his new bedfellows at Arkansas.
Not to be overlooked, No. 6 Florida, No. 12 Oklahoma, No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 17 Mississippi State, and No. 24 Ole Miss all find themselves joining the SEC's top suitors in the AP Top 25 national rankings.
In fact, all but one of the Southeastern Conference's 16 — South Carolina — currently projects outside of this year's field of 68 best teams and a spot in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. But even Gamecocks — last year's surprise team of the league — shouldn't be discounted from fitting into the glass slippers and reprising their role as Cinderella in this year's Big Dance.
So the table is set for John Calipari — now wearing red like Scarlett O'Hara as a would-be bell at an Atlanta ball. Let's take a look at five ugly step sisters Cal will have to overcome to finally prove the blue bloods wrong and put a cherry on top of his hall of fame credentials.
Five internal challenges for Hog Hoops
1. Health is wealth
It's unclear what factors went into Calipari declaring he would need only nine players to seriously contend for playing time in his first season on The Hill in Fayetteville. Maybe it was the short turn around following the going-back-to-Cali departure of his relatively successful predecessor Eric Musselman?
Musselman abandonment the program after failing to secure a winning record in the SEC for a second-straight season. Nor did he earn a ticket to the dance for his first time in his Arkansas tenure. That left the roster as bare as a newlywed's cupboard, and Cal needing to prove his recruiting came with him to Kentucky and followed him to Arkansas.
Or maybe it was mismanagement of the credit card Tyson gifted to his new trophy coach? No doubt it took top dollars in NIL funds to keep three of Cal's top-ranked high school recruiting class loyal through the divorce with Kentucky. He also convinced another trio of his older kids in D.J. Wagner, Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivisic to follow him to Arkansas.
Not to be outdone by the NIL-era new jacks, Calipari and Tyson had to compete in the transfer portal meat market for the final three dime pieces and complete a viable playing rotation. Those final three studs came in the form of Tennessee postman Jonas Aidoo who came across the Mississippi River in the Natural State.
Travon Brazile joined him in the front court fresh out of the NBA draft combine as Arkansas' lone returnee. To top it all off, the Hogs also landed the top-rated player out of the transfer portal in well-seasoned NCAA-tournament veteran Johnell Davis, who also chose Arkansas in hopes that Cal's NBA placement track record would get him over the combine hump as well.
I’ll continue to say that what Arkansas has been able to do without Johnell Davis being their best player, or even playing at all tonight, is very impressive.
— Brandon Ramsey (@BRamseyKSR) December 31, 2024
The emergence of Adou Thiero has been massive. Boogie Fland is as good as advertised.
Razorbacks will be tough to beat. https://t.co/GqaPIy5RXR
The pre-conference problem has been Aidoo, Brazile, Davis and Ivisic have all battled injuries so far — leaving Cal with less than a full quota of competitive players for practice at times. Well, rehearsal time is over and the real show is about to begin. If Cal is to avoid Musselman's fate at Arkansas, he's going to need all hands on deck for SEC play this season.