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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The basketball gods must have an affinity for sportswriters, because the fact we are going to get Rick Pitino vs. John Calipari one more time is so good, it almost feels nudged into our reality on a celestial level.
There are infinite other timelines under which Calipari and Pitino — two of the greatest coaches ever and bona fide (former?) enemies — would have all too reasonably never crossed paths in an arena ever again. Pitino was exiled to coaching in Greece after his 2017 firing from Louisville, only to return to Iona in 2020 before (somewhat improbably) making his way back into the Big East at St. John's.
Calipari was presumed fated to finish his Hall of Fame career at maybe the best job in the sport: Kentucky. But that wound up changing after an unexpected cascade of events triggered the opportunity for him to leave Big Blue Nation for Arkansas on the Sunday before the national title game last year.
Then, Pitino does the near-unthinkable by lifting St. John's to its best season in a quarter-century, if not longer, in Year 2. As this was happening, Calipari was enduring turbulence in a spotty first season in Fayetteville.
The Johnnies swept the Big East and earned a 2-seed. Arkansas avoided a would-be catastrophe by picking up some huge wins in February to ensure it made this tournament as a 10-seed.
Even then, we still needed more to allow for this rendezvous. Aided in part by the fact the SEC sent a record 14 teams dancing, the selection committee had to be sure not to put the Hogs in a spot where they would meet a common league foe before the end of the first two rounds. So, off to Providence they went.
Of course, both needed to take care of their business on Thursday first.
They did.
Pitino's team predictably had little trouble (after starting out slow) with No. 15 Omaha, setting a school tourney record with a 30-point win.
Arkansas' task was much different. It needed to get past one Hall of Famer (Bill Self) to meet another. Here's the thing that still wows me about all of it: The universe sort of winked here, because Arkansas wound up facing the worst Kansas team ever under Self. As a result, it pulled out a 79-72 victory.
So here we are: No. 2 seed St. John's faces No. 10 seed Arkansas. Pitino vs. Calipari. They'll square off Saturday on CBS at approximately 2:40 p.m. ET., down in the bottom left corner of the bracket in the West Region. The appetizer being rebel Will Wade's McNeese Cowboys going up against by-the-book Matt Painter's Purdue Boilermakers. It's clear that Providence was given the best storylines of any city in the first weekend of the tournament.
And now we get one more chance at one more match between two legendary coaches and longtime rivals. It'll be the 24th time, with Calipari owning a 13-10 all-time head-to-head advantage, which accounts for the six times they met in the NBA while coaching the New Jersey Nets (Calipari) and Boston Celtics (Pitino). It will be the fifth meeting in the NCAA Tournament between these two paisans, the two of them tied 2-2 in Big Dance battles. Only Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Izzo (six) have more head-to-head tournament matchups in history.
Don't think for a second Cal and Pitino don't know the score.
They are the only coaches to take three schools to the Final Four. Adding to that: Pitino once coached in this city, guiding Providence to a Final Four. He's three wins away from a full-circle moment if he can get St. John's to San Antonio.
But there's Calipari, right there, just standing in the way.
Calipari's trying to take a fourth team to the Sweet 16 (minimally).
But wouldn't you know it: Pitino, of all people, is blocking his view.
This is the type of coaching rivalry that uplifts college basketball while transcending the sport in the process. The nation will be tuned in not just because St. John's is great for the first time in multiple generations, but because these two have been primary characters in basketball going on 30-plus years, though Pitino wasn't leaning into the obvious narrative when asked about it late Thursday night.
"I don't go against coaches, we go against teams," he 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."
The animosity that once defined the dynamic of these two has faded some as they've gotten older. Sure, Pitino will feel a burn in his belly to win on Saturday, but in speaking to those close to him, that is much more about his relentless competitiveness as opposed to merely logging one more win vs. Cal.
On Wednesday, Pitino said another man with "Cal" in his last name — Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun, whom Pitino coached against dating back to his Boston U days — was his only true rival on a visceral level. After Thursday night's win, he clarified what he meant.
"I'm talking about disliking-each-other rival," Pitino said of Calhoun, then veered into some Calipari perspective. "John was at Kentucky, (I was) at Louisville. It's normal. I have always had great respect for John. We have not seen (Arkansas') size and athleticism all year. Creighton has a 7-2 center, but athleticism-wise, we have not seen this this year. We know what we're up against, obviously."
Calipari wasn't asked about Pitino on Thursday night; Arkansas' win came before St. John's was assured a spot in Saturday's second round. But he did have some introspection about the season. The fact Calipari's rollercoaster Razorbacks debut could all end vs. Pitino is chef's-kiss tasty.
"Every one of us, including me, had doubts, and we all had to convince ourselves we're going to do this," Calipari said as he riffed in one of his typical monologues. He eventually worked his way to this next part: "But for all of us, the first battle you have, including us coaches, is with yourself. That's the first battle you have. You can't worry about anybody else. Battle yourself and get yourself in the right frame of mind, and I didn't want the albatross around my neck of my history of coaching. 'You're supposed to win every game.' No, no, you're not. Your job is to be about those kids and wherever the program is at that time; your job is to keep picking them up and make them better and make them feel good about themselves."
Saturday will mean something more than just one more NCAA Tournament win to these men. It has to. These are two rabid competitors — men who track slights, who keep score on almost everything. They've combined to win more than 1,700 games. They have reached the pinnacles of their professions because of headstrong personality traits — which has also played a part in their downfalls as well.
This is theater. It feels Shakespearean. Even if Pitino doesn't abhor Calipari and Calipari doesn't loathe Pitino, they both still badly want to beat each other. That's enough. We can take all the rest and fill it in ourselves.
There will be no bigger matchup in the second round than this. Maybe it will be a blowout; perhaps we get an upset. Whatever comes, the fact we are even given one more chance to watch 72-year-old Rick Pitino and 66-year-old John Calipari share a sideline one more time (one last time?) is a gift from the basketball gods. Legends, rivals, both never wanting to give even a millimeter — on anything — to the other.
St. John's. Arkansas. Pitino. Calipari. One more time. Saturday up in the Northeast, where it all began for both of these two legends. How fitting. How perfect. One might say: Divine Providence.
