'Someone Must Have Been Sick' for Committee to Place Hogs in Providence

NCAA's selection committee missed out on major marketing opportunity by putting Arkansas, St. John's in Providence

Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari watches his team practice during the First Round Practice Session at Amica Mutual Pavilion. / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — There aren't many coaches throughout college basketball as polarizing as Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari.

He can take over press conference with an endless amount of stories full of hypotheticals and is a reporters dream to cover because he always has a line. Just like Wednesday's preview for the NCAA Tournament, Calipari had one quote that stood out more than any other.

"When I saw we weren’t in [the Lexington quad], I’m like, ‘Wow, somebody must have been sick and went to the bathroom or something for them not the put us there.'”

“I said [St. John’s] would be the No. 2 [seed] if we come out No. 10 [seed],” Calipari said Tuesday. “They told me who the No. 7s [seeds] were. I said, ‘We’ll play Kansas. And if [St. John's] were the two, it’ll be [Rick Pitino].’ I thought it may be played somewhere else. Where do you think I thought they would put us to play?”

That made plenty of sense as both coaches led the Kentucky program during their respective careers. Calipari also faced Pitino annually from 2009-2016 for a non-conference rivalry game while he was at Louisville.

Louisville Cardinals head coach Rick Pitino shakes the hands with Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari before the first half at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated Kentucky 73-70. / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Providence may not have been the popular pick for this pod of NCAA Tournament games, but that didn't stop Calipari from praising the city. He embraced the town's Italian culture with his arms outstretched and a huge smile.

"Italian city," Calipari exclaimed. "We already went out to Federal Hill, the Pineapple. Let's go. We had a nice meal last night. Like I said, last time we came here it was a lot of fun. I love Providence, really do."

Arkansas will face Kansas in the first round Thursday evening with tip-off scheduled for 6:10 p.m. CT and will air on CBS.

HOGS FEED:

• Calipari looks to chip away at Pitino wins lead while chasing Arkansas' cause

• Texas may have cost Terry's job, helped Hogs, other SEC coaches in process

• Despite making tourney three times with Hogs, Brazile about to experience first

• Petrino experiments with receivers looking for breakout option for Green

• Petrino Experiments with Pair of WR Transfers in Spring Ball

• Razorbacks bulldoze brave strong winds for blowout over Oral Roberts

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