Calipari Predicted Oklahoma's SEC Resurgence

Shortly after Arkansas held off Oklahoma 83-79 in Norman toward the end of a nine-game SEC losing streak for the Sooners, Razorbacks head coach John Calipari stared into the camera and issued a dire warning to himself and his future Hogs team — Oklahoma was about to make a run.

What he recognized in Porter Moser's team was somewhat of a reflection of his Razorbacks that got off to a 1-6 start in SEC play only to pull it together late for a Sweet 16 run that should have been an Elite 8 appearance in which Calipari claims his team was locked in enough to squeeze into the Final Four. There had been obstacles that come in general with the season, but the biggest issue at hand was a need for the team to simply build chemistry and see that the things their head coach was preaching can work effectively against quality SEC opponents.

That night Oklahoma's defense held the Hogs to 2-of-17 shooting from three and the Sooners' starting five was a single point away from each of them putting up double-digits on the scoreboard. Oklahoma also out-rebounded the Hogs on both ends of the floor, including an 11-to-7 edge over Arkansas on the offensive glass, despite not having a particularly strong back court.

What Calipari saw was the hustle was there to claw away wins in close games. He also recognized Moser had found a way to get his players involved and successful in a way that was going to cause problems once the Sooners finally got over the hump.

"If they play that way, they'll win games," Calipari said. "They're going through exactly what we went through a year ago, and stuff didn't bounce your way. But, you know, we can do this. And so my guess is, I wouldn't want to play these guys the next couple games."

Calipari was right about everything. Oklahoma took a pair of losses to fall below .500 overall, but have since won seven of its last nine, making Moser's team a single win over Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals from becoming the team on the court he didn't want his Razorbacks tangling with,

"I'm going to say it again," Calipari said. "I've been there a year ago, then all of a sudden you start winning games. And you look around, you're right, right there. I'm just happy we won't play them."

Obviously, the Hogs' coach could see the future to a degree when it comes to identifying elements of the Sooners' game that led to their run, but based on the last sentence, Hogs fans shouldn't rush out to get lottery numbers from Calipari or pick parlays down at the casino.

Odds are high Arkansas will have a little dinner Friday night and then hit the court for a later than schedule start to face Oklahoma. It will be a much different team than Arkansas beat last time.

Nijel Pack and Xzayvier Brown have grown into stone cold killers. While it will be hard for Pack to best his 22-point outing in Norman, if the ball ends up in the hands of either his or Brown's hands with the game on the line, the shot is going to go down.

Just ask Texas, which fell to Oklahoma in overtime in Austin. Pack knocked down nine points as part of a 14-2 run that helped the Sooners claw back into the game in the second half when all looked lost.

He's also scored 21 or more points in four of his last five games. Meanwhile, Brown has been putting together Billy Richmond style games over the previous five, putting up between 14 and 21 points will sparking runs with steals, timely rebounds and assists.

Still, despite Calipari's warnings and Oklahoma's growth, the Sooners first have to get past a Texas A&M team that edged them out a couple of weeks ago and then take down a Razorbacks team that features the SEC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in Darius Acuff, another All-SEC freshman in Meleek Thomas and an All-Defensive team player in Richmond.

That doesn't even account for the high-flying Trevon Brazile who can suddenly heat up from the three-point line or Malique Ewin having a confident night. Calipari predicted Moser's team, but perhaps even he couldn't see the evolutionary journey his Hogs were about to take.

Oklahoma faces the Aggies at 8 p.m. Thursday on SEC Network with the winner moving on to face Arkansas in the same time slot and television Friday night.