Battle-Tested Calipari Faces Toughest Fight Yet with 0-4 Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach John Calipari has started 4-0 in SEC play four seperate times, with the entire league looking at him as the frontrunner, the kingpin.
Now, for the first time in his career, he finds himself on the opposite end of the spectrum, starting 0-4. 13 of the 16 SEC teams already have a conference win, Arkansas joins just Oklahoma and South Carolina looking up the standings at the rest of the league.
Even Big Blue Nation's biggest Calipari critic couldn't have dreamt of a realistic scenario where the plunge into the doldrums was equally quick and steep.
Calipari is now tasked with performing a escape act with a high-degree of difficulty. Arkansas has one quality win, a massive comeback win against Michigan. Arkansas will likely need eight wins in its final 14 SEC games to make the NCAA Tournament from a team that is still searching for answers, but Calipari is up for the fight.
"It is what it is," Calipari said after Arkansas' 78-74 loss to LSU. "Let's go on to the next one. Get this thing going."
The team needs to get things going, and quick, or risk being swallowed by a league that is as relenting as it is unforgiving. The coaching staff around Calipari still senses a urgency.
"Coach Cal has done a great job of trying to do whatever it takes to inspire these kids to play confident and tough," assistant coach Kenny Payne said. "It’s not the end of the world. We can fix this."
As the team looks for a player to lead on the court, perhaps equally important, is for the man who has made a career out of repeated regular season success to find it from the unlikliest of postitions.
"Leadership isn’t just one-sided," Payne said. "When things are good, we’re all hunky dory. When things are bad, how do we lead? Do we give up? Do we fight through? Do we keep a positive mindset?."
The spirits are still high and the logic is, once the ice is broken, this team can win four straight as fast as it lost four.
"We need them confident," Payne said. "We need them to play winning basketball. If we win one, it may lead to winning six in a row. That’s our message."
Arkansas will have another chance to get on the scoreboard in SEC play against Missouri. Tipoff from Columbia, Mo. is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.