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Mark Pope: Rick Pitino 'wants all the smoke' ahead of potential John Calipari matchup in NCAA Tournament

FaceProfileby: Thomas Goldkamp03/17/25
CalPitino
Photos by Andrew Nelles and Brad Penner / USA TODAY Sports

The NCAA Tournament bracket is out and there are some juicy matchups right out of the gates. One second-round matchup could be particularly intriguing.

St. John’s is paired with Arkansas for a possible meeting after the opening round of action. That could pit former Kentucky coaches Rick Pitino and John Calipari against each other.

Current Kentucky coach Mark Pope was asked his thoughts on the potential matchup on Monday. He provided an amusing answer.

“Listen, if I know anything about coach P, he wants all the smoke, man,” Pope said. “He wants all the smoke, bring it.”

Though the NCAA Tournament is a different beast, Calipari and Pitino are no strangers to going head to head. Calipari was at Kentucky for a long time, long enough to cross paths with Pitino at Louisville several times.

While the two were in those jobs, Calipari claimed an 8-2 edge. But the rivalry goes back further than that.

Then you throw in the fact that this meeting could come in the NCAA Tournament and the stakes would be higher than ever. It would make for amazingly compelling TV.

“It’s so competitive. I mean every single round is so competitive,” Pope said. “Every single team, whether there’s a 16 by your name or a 1, these are all championship-caliber teams.”

The job Pitino has done this year with St. John’s may well earn him the national coach of the year honors. He’ll certainly be one of a few finalists for that award.

Calipari has done his own impressive job, rebuilding the Arkansas roster almost from scratch. And the Hogs have been playing their best basketball of late.

Now that the NCAA Tournament is here, it’s win or go home. Those are some pretty lofty stakes for two coaches who love to compete against each other.

“So at the end of the day probably the names don’t matter that much,” Pope said. “It’s like everybody’s fighting for their life and that’s why the NCAA Tournament is so beautiful. It’s the greatest sporting event in the world.”