Fans blame John Calipari as Arkansas makes massive blunders in final seconds to crash out of the Sweet 16

John Calipari looked set to lead his Arkansas Razorbacks to the Elite Eight late in the second half of their Sweet 16 contest. They were up by as much as 16 when Johnell Davis made a three with 11:40 remaining in the game. They were up by 13 with 4:44 left after another Davis basket, when everything started going downhill for the Razorbacks.

The Red Raiders, who only led once in the entire regulation period, went on a furious 16-3 run in those final four minutes, culminating in a couple of three-pointers from Christian Anderson and Darrion Williams in the last 72 seconds to force overtime.

Even during the extra period, the Razorbacks had a chance to seal the deal, but their defense, which had stifled the Red Raiders the entire game, suddenly started showing their holes. They were also unable to secure defensive rebounds, which meant more extra possessions for Texas Tech.

A go-ahead layup from Williams is what ultimately doomed Calipari’s squad, but it was a list of crucial mistakes on his part down the stretch that led everyone to scratch their heads as to what he was thinking at the time.

Not fouling in the dying seconds of regulation so that the Red Raiders could take the game-tying three-pointer and not calling a timeout after Williams’ layup with 7.3 seconds remaining, which led to a forced fadeaway jumper from D.J. Wagner, were the most glaring errors from Calipari in the game. And the internet had a field day with them.

Reactions poured in that flamed the veteran coach. Here are some of them:

This user just missed out on a good payday because of Calipari's blunders.

Anderson led the Red Raiders with 22 points, four rebounds and three assists while Williams added 20 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block with JT Toppin chipping in another 20 points. Johnell Davis led the Razorbacks with 30 points with Karter Knox, Wagner and Trevon Brazile adding another 20, 13, and 11 points respectively.

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Texas Tech loss another blemish on Calipari's long line of March Madness blunders

This loss by John Calipari adds to his list of disappointments in his stints in the Big Dance.

In his eight seasons with the UMass Minutemen, he made the tournament five times, along with five Atlantic 10 Conference titles, and his best showing was a Final Four appearance once in 1996. His nine-year stint with the Memphis Tigers was no different as the best he was able to do in the six years he made the tournament was a runner-up spot in 2008.

His Kentucky stint produced his only national championship, but a lot of collapse stories are lumped in that 15-year run, which only gets magnified when you consider the talent level he had in those Wildcat teams.

This is only his first year with the Razorbacks, and the team struggled with rebounding and blowing huge leads all season long. Calipari is still building this team, but it remains to be seen how far can he really take this program and finally shake off all those playoff disappointments fans have become accustomed to for so long.