As quickly because the phrases, “Rick Pitino and St. John’s,” aired throughout the CBS broadcast to announce the Johnnies’ seeding within the 2025 NCAA Event, the group tuning into Choice Sunday inside Rupp Enviornment bought loud.
A collective “Oohh” may very well be heard alongside some claps because the Kentucky crowd acknowledged what may probably unfold in Windfall this weekend.
By inserting the Purple Storm as a No. 2 seed within the West area, it arrange a potential matchup in opposition to John Calipari and the No. 10 seed Arkansas Razorbacks in subsequent Saturday’s second spherical.
Or, let’s be honest, it arrange the potential subsequent chapter within the Pitino vs. Calipari blood feud.
Even Wildcats coach Mark Pope -— who received a nationwide title with Pitino in 1996 and succeeded Calipari at Kentucky — chuckled upon seeing what the NCAA had completed with this quadrant of the bracket.
“If I do know something about coach (Pitino), he needs all of the smoke, man,” Pope mentioned. “He needs all of the smoke. Deliver it! It’s so aggressive, each single spherical is so aggressive. Each single group, whether or not there’s a 16 by your title or a one, these are all championship-caliber groups.
“On the finish of the day, in all probability the names don’t matter that a lot. Everyone’s preventing for his or her life and that’s why the NCAA Event is so lovely. It’s the best sporting occasion on the planet.”
Pitino and Calipari have developed fairly the rivalry all through the years, with an in-state feud, Kentucky historical past and even convention supremacy factoring into the combination.
Each coaches received one nationwide title with the Wildcats, which creates the traditional debate of which coach had the higher run with this system.
Pitino posted an .814 profitable proportion over eight seasons earlier than bolting for the NBA, whereas Calipari notched a .769 profitable proportion over 15 seasons earlier than exiting for SEC rival Arkansas.
The 2 coaches battled as Convention USA foes for 4 seasons from 2002-05 whereas Pitino guided Louisville and Calipari helmed Memphis.
Then, in 2009, the 2 grew to become the faces of one of the vital heated in-state rivalries in all of sports activities when Calipari took the Kentucky job.
Add in some NBA battles and the way Calipari didn’t admire being in comparison with Pitino as he blossomed as a coach early in his profession, and you’ve got the makings of an all-time teaching feud.
Whereas it could be enjoyable to imagine the match committee purposefully arrange this message, Pitino didn’t appear to suppose that’s the case.
“I don’t suppose so,” Pitino mentioned Sunday. “They many occasions have these theories about who they match up, however they don’t do it that method. I’ve requested Dave Gavitt about that they usually aren’t on the lookout for made-for-television theater, they need one of the best matchups, metrics-wise.”
