“This league, this year, it’s hard,” acknowledges John Calipari. For the first time in 21 years, his team has lost the first two conference games back-to-back. It didn’t happen in Kentucky and Memphis, but what do you know, there’s a first time for everything. Arkansas, after being demolished by No. 1 Tennessee on Saturday, just lost a game to Ole Miss that made it seem like the Razorbacks weren’t even trying. Except for maybe one player.

On a recent episode of The Field of 68: After Dark, the hosts discuss just what is happening with John Calipari’s team. “You kinda start wondering, are they able to get over that hump and beat these good teams,” asks Kenny Frease. Randolph Childress chimes in, “In that league, they’re gonna struggle.”

One player who seemed like he had it together” was D.J. Wagner. “I don’t know if they have anyone outside of Dajuan Wagner that’s capable of defending the basketball off the bounce.” Even so, Wagner, who followed Calipari from Kentucky, struggled offensively, went 4-13 while missing all five of his shots from the field.

“And they got absolutely nothing tonight from their frontline. Their bigs were just there. And I’m not saying it’s their fault, I don’t think we’re questioning their talent. But they were not involved in this game,” Childress continues. Freshman Boogie Fland, who has slowly but surely made a case for himself, missed 15 of 20 shots, including seven of eight three-pointers.

The Razorbacks’ Croatian talent, Zvonimir Ivisic or Big Z, did not score and only came on the court for less than 5 minutes. Overall, despite being in the lead with as many as 9 points at multiple points in the game, it was ultimately Ole Miss who took the victory. Despite going 11-13 in the non-conference part of the season, the 0-2 conference score does not bode well. And to add to their misery, this was a home loss.

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Everyone has figured it’s not hard to beat him. Teams just aren’t prepared

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“It’s gonna be a long year. I don’t see how this gets fixed. I would love to be optimistic and say – on a normal year I wouldn’t be worried about it. This year in that league? I’m worried about them,” Childress concluded. But even so, Calipari remains more committed to the culture than the wins.

John Calipari knows results matter but he also wants to “build beyond that”

John Calipari knew Ole Miss was the better team team yesterday. He had some criticism to give Boogie Fland, who had been missing shots. Calipari would much rather have had him pass the ball or create opportunities for his teammates to score when he couldn’t. But he also understood that that drive came from wanting to win.

“This now made my job even harder when you’re trying to build a culture and it’s about the process, not the results. Uh oh, results matter. They matter,” coach Cal said. “You’re trying to build beyond that and the culture has to come first and wins follow,” Calipari said. “Everywhere I’ve been it’s been the same. Early on it’s ugly, we’re not together, and eventually we go and we start getting it going.”

If there’s anyone who knows how to turn things around, it’s John Calipari. He’s done it at three previous schools and might do it in Arkansas but keep in mind, this is only his first year. To see how far the Razorbacks can go will take some time. Before that, they might have to go to rock bottom before climbing back up again.