Jimmy Fallon Hands Pitino Big Win in Rivalry with Calipari

Arkansas coach will need big recruiting weekend to make up lost momentum

Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari against the Texas Longhorns at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-HitThatLine.com

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — John Calipari and Rick Pitino have been indirectly linked for a long time and locked in a pseudo battle along the way. However, as of Thursday night, Pitino may have gained the edge.

Arkansas was initially brought into the SEC to provide a legitimate challenger to Pitino's Kentucky Wildcats. Nolan Richardson's Razorbacks came in and not only provided a challenge, but ruled the SEC for a while by beating Kentucky multiple times out the gate, making the national championship game in 1994 and 1995 with a national title in their first appearance.

Pitino got a national championship a year later and soon moved on. Eventually, another slick-haired Northeasterner showed up in Lexington when Calipari arrived in 2009.

He won his national championship with the Wildcats in 2012 and had many other successful years battling the Razorbacks before his surprise move to Arkansas this past season. Meanwhile, Pitino surprised everyone when former Arkansas coach Mike Anderson was controversially fired at St. John's in 2023 to seemingly make way for his former Kentucky nemesis from Anderson's days as an assistant for Richardson.

The two became further linked as this season began. Both were expected to make a lot of noise at their perspective schools.

There was great interest in whether each coach could pull off a run to the national championship game. The interest was enough that Vice TV gave both coaches their own television shows documenting their season.

Calipari's is named "Calipari: Razor's Edge" and Pitino's is "Pitino: Red Storm Rising."

"The reason I did it, our athletes today are all professionals," Pitino said in an appearance on "The Tonight Show" Thursday night. "They get paid. VICE TV supported the program. Gave us some money to support the NIL. So, I said it would be great. We needed a lot of exposure. We haven't won a championship in 40 years, so we need some exposure. They've been great. They're behind the scenes. They're just a fly on the wall, you don't even know they're there, but they follow every move we make."

While it was great for St. John's to follow up a Big East championship, as Pitino pointed out, its first in 40 years, the national mainstream exposure was big. However, what sent him at least temporarily hurtling past Calipari in their rivalry is what Fallon did for the Red Storm program prior to the show.

As soon as the local evening news concluded, the first thing America saw and heard was Fallon dressed in all red singing a catchy sea chantey about the greatness of the St. John's program.

To take it even further over the top, Red Storm players start appearing to sing harmony alongside Fallon and eventually Pitino and the school mascot make an appearance. Because the players performed in their appearance and it made "The Tonight Show" cold open, it can only be assumed a little more cash made its way into the NIL fund to pay them.

More importantly, the program now has a viral video floating around about the greatness of St. John's basketball that is near impossible to shake once it gets stuck in people's ear.

Now, if Calipari can land 5-star recrut Nate Ament this weekend, setting himself up for a massive second season at Arkansas that could surpass Pitino's current second season, things might swing back in favor of Calipari. However, for now, as America sings along with the Red Storm, Pitino holds on to the edge in one of college basketball's greatest off-court coaching rivalries.

HOGS FEED:

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• Petrino made Pittman offer he couldn't refuse, even if it ruffled feathers

• Credit Calipari for great coaching job in tough first year

• Arkansas Sports Raffle Act Passes House Committee on Second Try

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