College basketball rankings: Arkansas rises as John Calipari adds to loaded Razorbacks recruiting class

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Most would agree, even with the benefit of hindsight, that it was still time for John Calipari and Kentucky to divorce after 15 seasons following five years of zero trips to the Sweet 16. That said, it's hard to argue against the point that Calipari is doing better post-Kentucky departure than UK is doing in his absence.

Monday was the latest reminder.

That's when Calipari -- now Arkansas coach, of course -- secured a commitment from Miikka Muurinen, a 6-foot-10 forward from Finland whose pledge gives the Razorbacks three five-star prospects in the Class of 2026 and what 247Sports has labeled as college basketball's top recruiting haul. It's a development that pushed Arkansas up to No. 7 in Version 11 of the 2026-27 CBS Sports Preseason Top 25 And 1 college basketball rankings.

Kentucky remains unranked.

So, yeah, Calipari is clearly winning this breakup, given that he is coming off of back-to-back trips to the Sweet 16 and is now set to enter Year 3 at Arkansas with a preseason top-10 team. Things have not gone as smoothly at Kentucky for Calipari's replacement, Mark Pope, who finished tied for sixth and tied for seventh in the SEC in his first two years at Kentucky -- the second of which was injury riddled but still disappointing -- and has missed on multiple recruiting targets over the past month while his predecessor (Calipari) and biggest rival (Louisville) are both building Final Four-caliber rosters.

Does Pope still have time to flip things?

With all of the money at his disposal, the answer, I think, is yes. And if you're looking for a prediction, mine would be that somehow, someway, by the time everything settles, Pope will have a roster worthy of being ranked. If he doesn't, things will get uglier -- and fast. Because, as everyone understands, there's little patience for mediocre rosters at Kentucky. So if Pope and his staff don't spend the coming weeks and months assembling an impressive one, they'll have to overachieve wildly to ensure they're back on the sideline for the 2027-28 season.