There is a big SEC battle on Thursday, Jan. 30 with the No. 12 Kentucky Wildcats hosting the No. 22 Alabama Crimson Tide at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky.

John Calipari will make his anticipated return to Lexington when the Arkansas Razorbacks take on the Kentucky Wildcats.

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John Calipari wants his Arkansas basketball players who transferred from Kentucky to stay 'calm in the storm' inside Rupp Arena this weekend.

Heading into the matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers, not many believed Mark Pope's Kentucky Wildcats would win without point guard Lamont Butler. Andrew Carr played through his back injury, but after one short stint in the game coming off the bench,

John Calipari will make his first visit to Rupp Arena on Saturday since leaving Kentucky for Arkansas. His longtime coaching rival wants Big Blue Nation to treat Calipari with respect.

The Razorbacks lost their freshman phenom Boogie Fland for the season, which is a massive blow as he was the team's best offensive weapon. Fland was committed to Kentucky before Coach Calipari made the move to Arkansas.

Rick Pitino asked Kentucky fans to show love to former head coach John Calipari when he leads Arkansas into Rupp Arena on Saturday.

With a 17-3 record, Tennessee ranks No. 8 nationally behind Auburn, Duke, Iowa State, Alabama, Florida, Houston, and Michigan State. Kentucky is on their trail at No. 12 with only Marquette, Purdue, and Kansas in between. When: Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. ET

The Kentucky Wildcats were in the final five for 2025 recruit Alijah Arenas, but the top ten guard chose the USC Trojans.

“As you all know, I’m not best friends with John Calipari,” Pitino said. “I respect him, certainly, but it was a mutual thing. The fans wanted a change. John read the tea leaves. He needed a change, and he really didn’t want to leave.