Arkansas’ John Calipari will return to Rupp Arena on Feb. 1

In 2009, John Calipari arrived in Lexington as a hero. On February 1, he may return as a villain.

Calipari will return to Rupp Arena on Feb. 1 when Arkansas faces Kentucky, according to the SEC men’s basketball 2024-25 schedule released Tuesday.

Calipari led Kentucky to the national title in 2012 and spent more than a decade with the Wildcats before his time in Lexington ended in April after a tumultuous stretch of a pair of first-round exits in the NCAA Tournament the past three years. This will be the only regular-season matchup between Calipari’s Arkansas squad and Mark Pope’s Wildcats during the 2024-25 season.

Both coaches quickly regrouped in their new homes. Former five-star recruit DJ Wagner followed Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas, which also added former Florida Atlantic star Jonelle Davis. Pope also built his first Kentucky team with high-profile transfers, including former San Diego State star Lamont Butler.

This will be one of the biggest games in college basketball this coming season And, arguably, the most exciting. When former Kentucky head coach Rick Pitino, then Louisville’s head coach, made another trip to Rupp Arena in 2015, he was accused of giving the crowd the middle finger — a charge he denied after the game.

Calipari facing similar adversity in his first game after first-round losses to St. Peter’s and Oakland in two of the past three NCAA Tournaments left a sour taste for Kentucky fans.

There are other notable games on the schedule as well. Texas and Oklahoma open their season openers in the SEC on Jan. 4 with road games against Texas A&M and Alabama, respectively.

The Crimson Tide, backed by Wooden Award contender Mark Sears, will play critical league games on the road Jan. 18 at Kentucky and March 8 at Auburn, which could affect both the team’s SEC finish and postseason seeding. Alabama team with national title aspirations.

But Calipari’s return to Rupp Arena will headline the SEC slate.

“Kentucky is the bluest of the blue,” Calipari said after his introduction in Fayetteville in April. “There are only a few schools like this, and I hate to tell you…Arkansas is one of them.”