Somewhere along the way, this Arkansas team has lost focus. It's up to John Calipari to get it back.
The story of Arkansas basketball in 2026 offered so much promise, upside and potential in the middle of January. The Hogs were wiping out good teams at home and just needed to figure out road games ... or so it seemed. Arkansas played a rough nonconference schedule which left the Hogs battle-tested for the SEC. A conference championship seemed well within the team's grasp.
Now, in early February, the outlook is very different -- and a lot more pessimistic -- for the Razorbacks as they take a much-needed week off in search of the reset button. Where did it all go wrong for this team?
Arkansas is in the process of playing its way out of SEC title contention. The road losses keep piling up, and now there's a home loss on the ledger sheet. It seemed unlikely this team would play an entire season without losing at least one home game, but Kentucky did not figure to be the team to break the winning streak at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas allowed Mark Pope to get back at John Calipari after Cal won in Rupp Arena as an underdog last season.
The problem for Arkansas is far worse than just this one loss to Kentucky. If you look at the past few weeks, the Hogs haven't played a good game since the 25-point win over Vanderbilt on January 20. That's the only good game Arkansas played in the final two weeks of January.
UA lost to Georgia. It barely squeaked by LSU. It barely inched by a not-very-good Oklahoma team. It was not ready at the start against Kentucky, briefly found itself, but then withered down the stretch. One good game (Vanderbilt) in a five-game stretch marks a distinct wrong turn for this team and this season.
In the middle of January, the conversation was about the SEC championship being a possibility and a No. 3 seed for the NCAA Tournament being squarely within reach. Now Arkansas looks a lot more like a No. 5 seed and a team which might finish third in the SEC standings.
There are many different things we can spotlight in terms of Arkansas making a recovery, but with a week off, the main thing is for this team to mentally recharge its batteries. The grind of the SEC has taken its toll, and this team is playing as though burdened by pressure instead of being energized by the opportunity to do something special.
Last season's team found a way to become hungry and motivated instead of being burdened. Calipari engineered that mental turnaround and created an inspired group down the stretch. Coach Cal has to find that same key to unlock this team's potential. Tactics and execution are certainly important, but this team has to be hungry and mentally liberated -- we have not seen that the past few weeks. That's where this team and season must change. It would be a shame to waste so much potential.