Arkansas HC John Calipari makes feelings known on highly anticipated return to Kentucky's Rupp Arena

Arkansas coach John Calipari led the Razorbacks to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in his first season in charge after surprisingly leaving the Kentucky Wildcats last April. In February this year, Calipari made his return to the Rupp Arena to play against his old team.

The Razorbacks had been having a patchy season, going 13-6 overall and 2-6 in the conference, but they pulled off an 89-79 upset to pile pressure on his successor, the embattled Mark Pope.

During Thursday's segment of the CBS Sports podcast with analyst Jon Rothstein, Calipari broke down how his players approached the crucial road game against the Wildcats and what it meant to him.

"Looking back now, I'm like, 'That was a heck of a win.' To be able to do that for these kids and all that," John Calipari said. I will tell you that they rallied and they were in my office that week before, 'We're getting them. Don't worry coach.' And I'm like, 'wow. They made me feel very comfortable going into the game. But after the game, Jon believe me, we were 1-6, we just needed to win.' "I didn't care who it was. Now it's in the summer, and you're looking back, and we have a year to celebrate that kind of game. And it did turn our season. We went from 1-6 to win that, go to Texas, win that. And all of a sudden, things changed for us."

Kentucky's famous Big Blue Nation roundly booed John Calipari throughout the game, but he stopped his Arkansas players from goading the Wildcats fans after pulling off the win as he supported embattled coach Mark Pope.

---

When John Calipari termed Kentucky game as his "Super Bowl"

During his 15-year tenure at the helm of Kentucky, John Calipari managed a 410-123 record, including a national championship in 2012, establishing the Wildcats as one of the teams to beat in the country.

After beating his former team with the Arkansas Razorbacks, the charismatic Calipari admitted the importance of beating a blue blood program like Kentucky.

"Yeah, maybe (like a Super Bowl). It's not like we pointed to this game, we didn't," Calipari said. "We just needed to win, folks, whether it was Kentucky or whoever, we just needed to win so I can keep coaching. "It's the hardest thing is you're coaching them, you're teaching, you're bringing them together. Hard game to win in this building. I've been here. So it's a hard game to win."

After he left Lexington for Fayetteville, John Calipari admitted that it wasn't in his plans to leave Kentucky as abruptly as he did, which has led to polarizing conversations about his legacy among Wildcats fans.

Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma, or Kim Mulkey - who is NCAAW's highest-paid coach? Find out here

Edited by Bhargav