John Calipari will make his anticipated return to Lexington when the Arkansas Razorbacks take on the Kentucky Wildcats.

Two days before his highly anticipated return to Rupp Arena, John Calipari received a show of support from an unlikely ally. Rick Pitino, of all people, posted a video message to social media encouraging Big Blue Nation to treat Calipari with “respect and admiration” when the former longtime Kentucky coach brings his struggling Arkansas team to

Rick Pitino knows a thing or two about leaving Kentucky -- and returning. And now with John Calipari set to return to Rupp Arena with Arkansas on Saturday night (9 p.m., ESPN), the St. John’s coach has some advice on how Big Blue Nation should treat their former coach.

Rick Pitino wants Kentucky to treat John Calipari like one of their own when he returns this week. Calipari will return to Rupp Arena for the first time since he left Kentucky to become the head coach at Arkansas in April of last year.

John Calipari wants his Arkansas basketball players who transferred from Kentucky to stay 'calm in the storm' inside Rupp Arena this weekend.

Contrast that success with Calipari’s first Arkansas team, which needed six tries to notch its first SEC win of the year, and Kentucky fans figure to have plenty of ammunition Saturday. The Razorbacks are just 12-8 overall, and their 1-6 start to SEC play has them looking like a long shot for an NCAA Tournament berth.

Arkansas coach John Calipari isn't expecting a hero's welcome Saturday at Rupp Arena when he takes the Razorbacks to play at No. 12 Kentucky in his first game back at UK since his 15-year run leading the program ended.

John Calipari won more than 400 games during his 15 seasons leading Kentucky basketball. Many of those wins came in Lexington. These five stand out.

For Kentucky, the game before The Game was a tough one on paper — a Tuesday night road contest against Rick Barnes' Tennessee Vols, who were ranked No. 1 in the country just a few weeks ago and listed as 10.