John Calipari, Arkansas are in trouble early in SEC play

There's no sugarcoating it: Things aren't good for John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks.

After a solid 11-2 campaign in nonconference play, Arkansas entered SEC competition ranked No. 23 going into its SEC opener against No. 1 Tennessee. 

A 76-52 loss by Arkansas in Knoxville was certainly disappointing, but drawing the nation's No. 1 team in a conference opener was a tough situation. All eyes turned toward Bud Walton Arena — perhaps Arkansas' most valuable asset — and a matchup with an SEC rival in Ole Miss. 

However, Arkansas played in a rather flat and uninspired manner against the No. 23 Rebels, falling 73-66 in front of a relatively sparse Bud Walton crowd. 

Aside from a mini-run that cut the Ole Miss lead to seven late and led to a Hog Call with 3:38 to play, the Razorback faithful who braved the frigid Northwest Arkansas weather and made their way down Nolan Richardson drive were largely silent. Their beloved Hogs gave them little to cheer about. 

The Razorbacks and Rebels played their way into a 33-33 tie at halftime, but Ole Miss came out of the locker room on a mission. At multiple points in the second half, the Rebels opened up their lead to 10 points. 

Arkansas didn't have enough fight or firepower to punch back, leading to an 0-2 start in SEC play for the second consecutive season. 

A year ago, Arkansas opened SEC play with a blowout loss to Auburn and a 10-point loss to Georgia. The Razorbacks then lost to Florida by 22 to drop to 0-3 in SEC play. 

The parallels between this year's Razorbacks squad and this year's are striking: a blowout loss to begin conference play, a close loss to drop to 0-2 and a matchup with Florida in their third SEC contest. 

If Calipari and Arkansas can't find a way to take down No. 6 Florida in Fayetteville on Saturday, things could get ugly for a Razorbacks squad that's simply not meshing at the moment.