John Calipari will make his anticipated return to Lexington when the Arkansas Razorbacks take on the Kentucky Wildcats. For Kentucky fans, the choice of cheering or booing their former coach has the fanbase divided.

John Calipari will lead Arkansas into Rupp Arena to take on Kentucky Saturday night in his seventh meeting with the Wildcats overall and his first since leaving under controversy in April.

Contrast that success with Calipari’s first Arkansas team, which needed six tries to notch its first SEC win of the year, and Kentucky fans figure to have plenty of ammunition Saturday. The Razorbacks are just 12-8 overall, and their 1-6 start to SEC play has them looking like a long shot for an NCAA Tournament berth.

FAYETTEVILLE — St. John's basketball coach Rick Pitino, who led Kentucky to a national championship at Kentucky in 1996, posted a video to social media Thursday morning with a plea to Big Blue Nation. Pitino asked Kentucky fans to give Arkansas coach John Calipari a standing ovation Saturday when he returns to the place he coached for 15 years.

John Calipari won more than 400 games during his 15 seasons leading Kentucky basketball. Many of those wins came in Lexington. These five stand out.

Listen, we have been blessed at the University of Kentucky to have some of the greatest coaches to ever coach the game of basketball. Certainly, Cal is one of those,” Pope sa