“Just WIN this one”: College hoops fans can't keep calm as John Calipari’s Arkansas is set to face Kentucky on February 1, 2025

On Tuesday, it was announced that John Calipari and his Arkansas Razorbacks will take the trip to Lexington to take on Mark Pope's Kentucky Wildcats on February 1, 2025.

This game will be the only regular season matchup between Arkansas and Kentucky. The two teams have taken turns hosting each other twice in the last two years.

Kentucky fans are excited to see Calipari's return to the Rupp Arena and many already consider it a win for the Wildcats.

"If we lose every game, just WIN this ONE," one fan said.

"We'll win this one," another wrote.

Fan reactions to the Kentucky vs Arkansas match-up (Credits: Instagram/@ksr_ig)

After 15 years of leading the Wildcats, which included one championship win, Calipari announced his exit in April. Pope, an alumnus of Kentucky, was the team captain of the 1995–96 Wildcats team that won the 1996 NCAA championship.

---

Mark Pope on the matchup against John Calipari and Arkansas

Since he was hired in April, Pope has always been extremely vocal of his appreciation and respect for Calipari. The game with Arkansas has been in the works for quite some time, and Pope talked about it during his appearance on Jon Rothstein's "College Hoops Today" podcast in May.

“For him to be in this league is great for basketball. It’s going to be great for Arkansas fans and certainly great for Big Blue Nation,” Pope said. “It’s going to be a battle. It is going to have some things become super personal.

“It’s one thing competing against somebody that you don’t know. It’s another thing competing against your brother. If you’ve done that in the backyard, it usually gets ugly because you love each other so much. I anticipate there’ll be some of that flavor in this with Coach Cal, for sure.”

“What he has done for college basketball as a whole and what he has done specifically for Kentucky basketball? I couldn’t appreciate it any more,” Pope added.

Calipari has also been appreciative of Pope, calling him "a terrific hire" during the 2024 SEC spring meetings.

Both teams have undergone major roster changes with Kentucky losing all of its players to the transfer portal. Some—like D.J. Wagner, Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivisic—joined Calipari in Arkansas. Meanwhile, Pope built his roster almost entirely from scratch.

What are your predictions for the tip-off between Kentucky and Arkansas? Let us know in the comments below.