PROVIDENCE — After the 10-seed Arkansas Razorbacks and 2-seed St. John's Red Storm won their respective games in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night, the stage was set for two of the most decorated coaches in college basketball to face off.
Arkansas head coach John Calipari and St. John's head coach Rick Pitino have an extensive history against one another, and another chapter in that story will be written Saturday afternoon.
Longtime ESPN broadcaster Dick Vitale posted on X and called Saturday's game the "Rigatoni Marinara Classic," an ode to the two coaches' Italian heritage. In addition to their heritage, both coaches' careers bear striking resemblances.
"We both have big noses so that's one," Calipari said. "He has Gucci shoes and I have itchy shoes so we're different there. I don't know. We're all going to be judged 50 years from now what we did and how we did it, but I hope years from now people will say they both get their teams to play hard at a competitive level. Do we do it different? Yeah, I guess. I am who I am. Like it or not, this is who I am and how I deal with kids. We're all different with that."
Both Calipari and Pitino coached and won National Championships at Kentucky. Both left Lexington for rival programs — Pitino went to Lousville after a stint in the NBA and Calipari left for Arkansas. Both tried their hand at the NBA level and face off six times in the Association, and are 3-3 against each other.
Both have also dealt with NCAA violations and have had wins vacated, and both have seen and tasted the highest heights of the college basketball landscape.
And, of course, both had to make return trips to Rupp Arena in Lexington with new teams. Prior to this season's matchup, Pitino posted a video to social media, imploring Kentucky fans to abstain from booing Calipari.
"That was nice of him," Calipari joked. "I’d rather have a Christmas card, but that was nice of him."
That request didn't work, and — just as the two coaches have mirrored each other for decades — it happened again when the Kentucky faithful rained down a chorus of boos on the Razorbacks on Feb. 1.
The two Hall of Fame coaches have met a total of 23 times throughout their college basketball careers, and Calipari is 13-10 against his colleague. In four matchups in the NCAA Tournament, the two have held serve with two wins a piece. Calipari said he has a healthy level of respect for Pitino.
"I don't know how long he was at Louisville when I was at Kentucky, but you're not going to be friends when you got those two jobs," Calipari said. "You're not going to be enemies, but if he's real good, you're like, 'sheesh,' and if we were real good, he's probably saying, 'ugh.' But, you know, I respect coaches. I respect coaches that can really do this well and if you can do it over a long, long period of time, I really respect you.
"All that goes on with what we do to sustain excellence that means you're really, really good at what you do. You're great at what you do. Maybe you're the best to ever do it."
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Pitino said Thursday that he doesn't see Saturday's matchup as a game between the two coaches. He said he's focused on the two teams that will play on the court instead.
"I don't go against coaches, we go against teams," Pitino said. "He doesn't have to worry about me. My jump shot is long gone. We're preparing for his players. He's preparing for our players. John and I don't play one-on-one anymore."
Saturday's game will be the first time the two have faced off since 2016, when Calipari was at Kentucky and Pitino was at Louisville. Pitino won that contest, 83-80. Since it's been so long, no Razorback that HawgBeat interviewed in Providence on Friday knew much about the battles between Calipari and Pitino.
Things might look different this time around, as neither is coaching in the state of Kentucky anymore, but one thing won't change: both coaches want to win this game more than the other.
Arkansas and St. John's will tip off at 1:40 p.m. CT Saturday at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, and the game will air on CBS. Stay tuned to HawgBeat for the latest news about the Razorbacks.
