The college basketball offseason was full of shocking changes as long-time Kentucky head coach John Calipari left to be the new head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. This meant Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart had to hire a new coach, and he picked Mark Pope.

Both of these coaches had to go and put together a roster, and Coach Calipari brought a bunch of former Wildcats with him to play at Arkansas, including Adou Thiero, Zvonimir Ivisic, and DJ Wagner. Coach Calipari also brought most of the recruiting class that he had at Kentucky with him to Fayetteville.

Coach Pope went about it a different way as he landed a bunch of players via the transfer portal who played at a bunch of different school’s last season.

The SEC basketball opponents were announced a few weeks ago, and the Razorbacks and Wildcats will face off this season. These two teams will play once, and this game will be played at Rupp Arena. This is going to be one of the most anticipated games all season long in college hoops. Both of these teams will likely be ranked in the top 25, and there clearly will be a lot of excitement for this game between both teams.

It will be interesting to see how Kentucky fans respond to Coach Calipari making his way back to Rupp Arena after all of the success he has had over the years. This is going to become a new college basketball rivalry as Coach Pope looks to take down Coach Calipari.