ESPN Gives Hogs Least Informed Progress Report After Sweet 16 Loss

Razorbacks disrespected once again as basketball analyst doesn’t see whole picture

Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari against the Texas Longhorns at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — With the brand that John Calipari brings to Arkansas, minds and eyes are always going to talk about him no matter where his is.

In a season full of inconsistencies, injuries and more, Calipari still engineered quite the coaching job when most would have rolled over dead after an 0-5 conference start. While there seems to be an unfair evaluation scale, Arkansas was given a grade of neutral by ESPN's Joe Lunardi Monday morning.

A Sweet 16 appearance in Coach Calipari’s first year in town is a great start, especially after the Hogs lost their first five SEC games. Most years, though, 19 regular-season wins and an 8-10 conference record won't get you into the NCAA tournament. And just making the tournament isn't why Arkansas broke the bank for Calipari.

If Calipari doesn't someday set a record by making Arkansas the fourth school he takes to a Final Four, his tenure with the Razorbacks will be considered a major underachievement. It's probably unfair, but that's what he and Arkansas signed up for. And Razorbacks fans have seven million reasons per year to insist upon it.

Joe Lunardi, ESPN

He also wrote that Musselman's tenure of two Elite 8 appearances will be hard for Calipari to follow up. That could be the case, but Calipari almost matched that this year without having a 100% healthy roster going into any game this season, even during the NCAA Tournament.

Arkansas Razorbacks point guard Boogie Fland against Oakland at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-Hogs on SI Images

Without sounding like a Calipari apologist, Arkansas was in Year 1 in a totally unique situation without having one player officially on the roster when he took over last April. The Razorbacks went through a dormant 25 year period with limited success on the hardwood, including the NCAA Tournament.

The bias against Calipari doesn't make sense when Lunardi turns around and labels Kentucky and Mark Pope, who was also in his first year with the Wildcats, overachievers, there's reason to question Lunardi's intention.

Pope's program is considered a college basketball blue blood tied for the most Final Fours in NCAA Tournament history with 12. Just like Lunardi writes below, it ought to be impossible for Kentucky to be considered overachievers under any coach.

It should be impossible to overachieve at Kentucky, but Mark Pope inherited a genuinely unique situation. Big Blue Nation was restless for change and a return to winning, and the one-time program star brought both to Lexington.

Joe Lunardi, ESPN

Lunardi dissected each team that lost in the NCAA Tournament this weekend, giving them a progress grade of overachiever, underachiever or neutral. Given the Razorbacks are led by Calipari and his $10 million NIL budget this year, from the outside looking in its easy to say Arkansas severely underachieved.

Former UK coach and current Arkansas coach John Calipari hugs Kentucky coach Mark Pope before the game Saturday Feb. 1, 2025 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. | Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

However, take the bluegrass colored glasses off a minute, take a half second to understand what caused Arkansas to struggle in the regular season, and it doesn't take long to realize both Calipari's and Pope's situations were far more similar than different.

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