SEC Basketball Preview: John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks

The revival of John Calipari has happened in Razorback Red. After his first season, there were still some question marks as the Razorbacks stumbled through the season, but played well enough down the stretch to make the NCAA Tournament, where they got a favorable draw and went to the Sweet 16.

A year ago most people looked at the roster Cal had built and thought the same thing: this looks like a Cal roster. Arkansas should be good. And they were really good.

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And they were! They lost three games in the non-conference, but all were top 10 teams. Early on, it was clear things on offense would run through Darius Acuff, Jr. Acuff was a 5-star top 10 prospect and immediately looked like a lottery pick. He had a great side kick in explosive scorer Meleek Thomas. The combination of those two made the Razorback offense one of the nations best. Acuff rarely turned the ball over, and was good enough to get his teammates involved, causing the Hogs to score a lot of points.

The defense was sometimes optional, but that didn’t matter much when they were scorching the nets. And the offense was good enough to carry them to back to back Sweet 16s, and an SEC Tournament championship. But nearly everyone from that team is gone, and Cal is doing what he did a lot at Kentucky, remaking his roster with a lot of talented youth.

Previous SEC Previews:

Arkansas Razorbacks

Last season: 28 – 9 (13-5 in conference) #18

The Masses Prediction: 4th in conference

SEC Media Pick: coming soon!

Analytics Average: 5th in conference, 19th overall

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 26: Head coach John Calipari of the Arkansas Razorbacks reacts against the Arizona Wildcats during the first half in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at SAP Center on March 26, 2026 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Getty Images

HEAD COACH: John Calipari | 3rd Season, 50-23

It’s hard to believe I’ve been writing previews for SEC basketball since the 2014-15 season, and the only…

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Publish date : 2026-10-23 17:00:00

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