"Don't care about the conference tournament": Arkansas HC John Calipari drops blunt take ahead of SEC Tournament debut with Razorbacks

Arkansas coach John Calipari will enter his first SEC Tournament with the Razorbacks on Wednesday. However, after winning 15 conference tournaments in his career, Calipari has outlined his unique approach to the postseason competition.

On Monday morning, "The Chuck & Bo Show" shared a video clip on X from Courtside in which Calipari made a brutally honest comment about the SEC Tournament.

"I don't care about the conference tournament," Calipari said. "Which is why we won it so many times because I could care less. The tournament that matters is the NCAA Tournament."

Calipari then justified his comments about the conference tournament and why it matters heading into March Madness.

"Now, you play that tournament [SEC] to get the best seed you can get," Calipari said. "And if you're going to get to the finals, win or don't go to the finals and lose because you're exhausted and you got to play on Tuesday or Wednesday. So, I'm like, 'Let's play well and try to improve our seed.'"

In his first regular season with Arkansas (19-12, 8-10), Calipari led the team to a 12th place finish in the SEC standings. The Razorbacks have the No. 9 seed in the SEC Tournament and it will be interesting to see how the team fares in the postseason.

Calipari won five A10 Tournaments with UMass, four C-USA Tournaments during his time with Memphis and six SEC Tournaments during his spell at Kentucky. He also won the national title with the Wildcats in 2012.

Despite saying that he "couldn't care less" about the conference tournament, Calipari will want to win the SEC Tournament with Arkansas in his first season with the program.

John Calipari's Arkansas will face South Carolina in opening game of 2025 SEC Tournament

Arkansas HC John Calipari - Source: Getty

John Calipari's Arkansas will face No. 16 seed South Carolina (12-19, 2-16) in its opening game of the SEC Tournament. The matchup will kick off at 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday from Bridgestone Arena.

Although Arkansas is in with a good shout for making the NCAA Tournament, winning the SEC Tournament would help improve the team's seeding for March Madness.