Arkansas endured plenty of hardship during the first year of John Calipari's reign. But after besting No. 7 Kansas and No. 2 St. John's in the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, it's hard to view the Razorbacks' campaign as anything other than a success.

All season long, Arkansas Razorbacks men’s basketball coach John Calipari could be seen stalking the sidelines, yelling and gesturing wildly as the team marched their way towards a spot in the Sweet Sixteen.

Arkansas was up 16 points midway through the second half of its Sweet 16 game vs. Texas Tech on Thursday and appeared to be on its way to the Elite Eight. Making it to the West Regional Final would have been anther step in one of the best coaching jobs of John Calipari's career and made the Razorbacks' slow start in Calipari's first season in Fayetteville a distant memory.