Calipari, Self First Round Game Potential for All-Time Classic

Hall of Famers battle it out in NCAA Tournament to face third Hall of Famer

Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self (right) and Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari (background left) during the first half in the finals of the 2012 NCAA men's basketball Final Four at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Two Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coaches face off in a rare first round meeting in Providence, Rhode Island in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

No. 7 seed Kansas, coached by Bill Self, goes toe-to-toe with No. 10 seed Arkansas, led by first-year coach John Calipari. The two have met twice previously during the postseason, both instances in national championship games in 2007 (Kansas won 75-68 in overtime) and 2012 (Kentucky won 67-59).

Oct 25, 2024; Fayetteville, AR, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach John Calipari talks to Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self prior to the game at Bud Walton Arena. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

The Jayhawks and Razorbacks met in a highly anticipated charity exhibition game in Bud Walton Arena way back in October as both teams were figuring things out with injuries, rotations and getting newcomers ready. Arkansas won that game decisively 85-69 in front of a sold out crowd with both teams missing key players, including Jonas Aidoo and Hunter Dickinson.

Calipari isn't too confident that his team can just roll the ball out at the Amica Mutual Pavilion and win going away this time.

"We’ve played," Calipari said. He’s beaten us in Rupp [Arena], we’ve beaten him in Allen [Fieldhouse]. We got them in an exhibition game. If we go out there, they’ll probably get us. I mean, we’ve done this at a level for a long, long time, both of us. And I hate to play people that are friends or that I know well, but when you’re in this thing, you’re just, ‘Who are we playing? Alright, let’s see what we have to do to try to win.’"

Both programs stumbled throughout the regular season as each coach lost double-digit games for the second straight season and third time in the same year in their respective careers. Kansas, like Arkansas, was expected to finish in the top half of their conferences and suffered a couple shockers at Utah, 74-67, and at BYU, 91-57.

"I wasn’t following their struggles," Calipari said Sunday. "I had my own struggles. So I was not, I wasn’t following college basketball. I was following my individual players and what we had to do.

"There was a point, they lost a game and I was like, ‘Wow.’ Then I saw their record and I said, ‘What in the world?’ He’s probably not following us and then seeing we were 0-5, saying, ‘What in the world?’"

When fully healthy, the Jayhawks are dangerous. They started the year 7-0 with wins over North Carolina, Michigan State and Duke.

Since that start, Kansas is 14-12. Only five players appeared in all 33 games with Dickinson the lone player to start each, averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Kansas Jayhawks center Hunter Dickinson (1) reacts after a play during overtime against the UCF Knights at T-Mobile Center. | William Purnell-Imagn Images

Arkansas will attack Kansas using its athletes in transition, averaging over 13 points per game, which ranks No. 51 nationally. The Jayhawks finished the regular season with a KenPom defensive efficiency rating of 92.7 which ranks No. 11 nationally while Arkansas' 92.5 ranks No. 20 overall, indicating this first round game could be a defensive clinic.

"He's always great, you know, recruiting great players and terrific athletes" Self said. "I think they do a good job coaching them too. And I think they usually guard, and I'm sure they'll do that, and they're battle tested, obviously, going through the going through the grind of the SEC, but yeah, it'll be a fun, competitive game.

"I know we're going to have to play really well to win, and I believe they're going to have to play well to win, too. We bond against each other quite a bit over time, but I don't believe we've ever gone against each other, except in two really big games in the in the NCAA Tournament. We split those, so it'll be a much talked about match-up, I assume."

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

Both coaches rank in the Top 15 in career victories all-time with Calipari's 875 wins slotted at No. 9 behind Kentucky legend Adolph Rupp's 876. Self sits at No. 13 with 831 wins coming from stops at Oral Roberts, Tulsa, Illinois and now Kansas, a place that he has won 625 times.

Whichever legend wins this one will likely be rewarded a date against No. 2 seed St. John's Red Storm, coached by Hall of Famer Rick Pitinio, currently the sport's active leader in career wins at 884, which ranks No. 5 all-time. There's no other quadrant of games during the first weekend that hosts such a legendary coaching mashup than Providence, a place where Pitino spent two seasons including a Friar's Final Four trip in 1987.

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