{"id":272837,"date":"2025-03-25T06:49:44","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T06:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/25\/john-calipari-gets-100-real-on-relationship-with-kansas-hc-bill-self-ahead-of-march-madness-matchup\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:09:04","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:09:04","slug":"john-calipari-gets-100-real-on-relationship-with-kansas-hc-bill-self-ahead-of-march-madness-matchup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/25\/john-calipari-gets-100-real-on-relationship-with-kansas-hc-bill-self-ahead-of-march-madness-matchup\/","title":{"rendered":"John Calipari gets 100% real on relationship with Kansas HC Bill Self ahead of March Madness matchup\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"4832259\" data-slug-id=\"2429402\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Arkansas Razorbacks coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/college-basketball\/news-when-john-calipari-spoke-making-major-change-college-basketball-s-one-done-trend\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">John Calipari<\/a> expressed his thoughts on going up against Kansas coach Bill Self ahead of program\u2019s first round NCAA Tournament matchup on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Calipari took <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/college-basketball\/arkansas-razorbacks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Arkansas<\/a> to a 20-13 record and a ninth-place finish in the SEC while Self led <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/college-basketball\/kansas-jayhawks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Kansas<\/a> to a 21-12 record and a sixth-place finish in the Big 12 conference.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cPlaying someone that I really respect and have a friendship with is hard,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BHanni\/status\/1902414947960631737?t=CINf1bRiMh5phFiASP4J0w&amp;s=08\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Calipari said<\/a>. \u201cBecause we\u2019re gonna try to beat each other\u2019s brains in and afterwards you\u2019re gonna feel bad for about 12 seconds and then you have to move on. Bill\u2019s a great coach though who has built terrific programs and cultures that win.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Bill Self has a 7-6 record against John Calipari and both coaches have two national championships each. For the Razorbacks, Trevon Brazile has scored double figures in the last four games while Hunter Dickinson has scored 15 points or more for Kansas in the last seven games.<\/p>\n<p>John Calipari and Bill Self bring a wealth of experience and success to the sidelines. The return of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/college-basketball\/news-boogie-fland-injury-update-insider-shares-major-news-arkansas-guard-s-availability-ahead-march-madness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Boogie Fland<\/a> will be an added boat to the Arkansas\u2019 roster, expanding their rotation to eight players and providing much needed depth.<\/p>\n<h2>John Calipari takes shot at NCAA Selection Committee over Arkansas\u2019 placement<\/h2>\n<p>John Calipari\u2019s Arkansas started the season with an impressive 12-3 before they stumbled, dropping their first five SEC games, which put their tournament hopes in doubt. Despite the rough patch, coach Calipari steadied the ship, guiding his program back on track.<\/p>\n<p>Later in the season, injury struck when key player Adou Thiero suffered a hyperextension to his left knee against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/college-basketball\/missouri-tigers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Missouri<\/a> (Feb. 22), leaving Arkansas with a seven-man rotation. Calipari and Arkansas found a way to move on from that and now find themselves in the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, Calipari took a lighthearted shot at the NCAA Selection Committee regarding Arkansas\u2019 placement in the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cJohn Calipari jokes that \u2018someone must have been sick\u2019 or \u2018went to the bathroom\u2019 on the NCAA Selection Committee for not putting Arkansas in Lexington,\u201d ESPN\u2019s Pete Thamel posted on X.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>His remark was a playful nod to his departure from Kentucky last year. Having led the Wildcats to a national championship in 2012, a tournament appearance in Lexington would have had fans buzzing.<\/p>\n<p>Arkansas and John Calipari will be aiming to defeat Kansas and make a deep tournament run, taking advantage of Calipari\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline bottom\" data-tab=\"bottom\">\n<p><em>Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma, or Kim Mulkey &#8211; who is NCAAW&#8217;s highest-paid coach? Find out <\/em><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/college-basketball\/5-highest-paid-women-s-college-basketball-coaches-2024-25-season-ft-kim-mulkey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\" class=\"bottom_tagline_link\" data-tab=\"bottom\">here<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Chaitanya Prakash<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script> \nvar fbPixelFired = false;\nvar pixelID = \"952063904834769\";\ndocument.addEventListener(\"scroll\", loadFBPixel, { once: true, passive: true });\ndocument.addEventListener(\"mousemove\", loadFBPixel, { once: true, passive: true });\nfunction loadFBPixel() {\nif(fbPixelFired) {\nreturn;\n}\nfbPixelFired = true;\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? \nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\nn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, \ndocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\nfbq('init', pixelID); \nfbq('track', \"PageView\");\nfbq('track', 'ViewContent');\ndocument.removeEventListener(\"scroll\", loadFBPixel);\ndocument.removeEventListener(\"mousemove\", loadFBPixel);\n}\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/college-basketball\/news-john-calipari-gets-100-real-relationship-kansas-hc-bill-self-ahead-march-madness-matchup\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari expressed his thoughts on going up against Kansas coach Bill Self ahead of program\u2019s first round NCAA Tournament matchup<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":272838,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[180],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272837"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}