Yahoo! Sports has put together a list of the six NCAA Tournament coaches who are under the most pressure to win now.
Of course, Kentucky’s John Calipari is on the list based on last season’s upset loss to St. Peter’s and the fact that Kentucky hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2019.
Other coaches on the list include Nate Oats (Alabama), Matt Painter (Purdue), Kelvin Sampson (Houston), Bill Self (Kansas) and Jon Scheyer (Duke).
Here’s an excerpt about Calipari:
John Calipari, Kentucky
The Wildcats haven’t won a NCAA tournament game since 2019 and haven’t been to a Final Four since 2015. In fairness, they were national contenders in 2020 when COVID-19 shut the tournament down, but still, such a drought — including an opening-round loss to Saint Peter’s a year ago — has led to massive frustrations among parts of the fan base.
Kentucky entered this season with high expectations. They returned national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe and the roster was full of quality transfers and Calipari’s usual freshman stars, including top recruits Cason Wallace and Chris Livingston.
Instead of looking like a true contender, they dragged their way to a 21-11 season and a 6 seed in the East, opening against Providence.
This is a team that has the talent to make a significant run. It also has shown itself capable of another early round loss. Calipari is in the middle of a 10-year contract with an enormous buyout (nearly $40 million) and another astounding group of recruits coming, so he isn’t getting fired.
That doesn’t mean Cal couldn’t really use a few tournament victories to restore some sense of pride and excitement around the program. Another first-round knockout — especially to a Providence team that is 4-6 in its last 10 — might make life untenable in Lexington.
