PROVIDENCE, R.I. — John Calipari is in his 33rd season as a college basketball head coach, but as he prepares his Arkansas squad to face Kansas in a highly anticipated first-round matchup in the NCAA tournament, he was reflecting on his early years.

“I’m kind of back to my roots of being the underdog,” Calipari said Wednesday at the Amica Mutual Pavilion, where the 10th-seeded Razorbacks face the seventh-seeded Jayhawks on Friday.

“This was one of those years that was so rewarding. All I’m thinking about is where we were — threw us in the coffin, forgot the nails. No chance of the NCAA tournament and all of a sudden we’re here.”

The roots to which Calipari, 66, referenced was his tenure at the University of Massachusetts from 1988-1996, his first head coaching job.

UMass had qualified for the NCAA tournament just one time before Calipari’s arrival. He proceeded to lead the Minutemen to five straight berths from 1992-1996, which included a run to the Final Four in 1996 — which was later vacated by the NCAA– in which the Minutemen’s first- and second-round games were played in Providence.

Calipari referenced those games Wednesday, while also relating his experience to his current Arkansas team, which was ranked 14th in the Associated Press preseason poll before finishing 20-13 overall and 8-10 in the SEC.

Calipari noted how the Razorbacks have played without leading scorers Boogie Fland (thumb) and Adou Thiero (knee) for an extended stretch, which has limited him to a seven-man rotation. The plan is to integrate Fland into the mix against Kansas, as he has been cleared to return.

Arkansas lost six of seven games in January, which Calipari said set up a defining part of the season because the next two games were on the road — against Kentucky and Texas. Arkansas won both and finished the year 7-4. The Razorbacks then beat South Carolina 72-68 in the first round of the SEC tournament before falling to Ole Miss 83-80.

“We bust out somehow,” he said. “This team found a way. They became one heartbeat. That was so enjoyable for me.

“This is so different for me. Fighting to get in, the rewards of this. Every one of these players was in a dark place at one point or another. A really dark place. Questioning, ‘Can I play?’ Questioning everything. The first battle you have is with yourself. We’ve gone through so much [and now] I see kids smiling.”

The matchup with Kansas pits Calipari against Bill Self for the third time in the NCAA tournament.

Self’s Kansas team defeated Calipari’s Memphis team in the 2008 championship game, 75-65. And in the 2012 championship game, Calipari’s Kentucky team defeated Kansas 67-59.

“Playing someone I really respect, and have a friendship with, it’s hard,” Calipari said. “Because both of us are going to try to beat the other’s brains in. After it’s over, you both feel bad, 12 seconds, then you move on thinking about the next game.”

The winner will face the victor between No. 2 St. John’s and No. 15 Omaha.