For a program like Kentucky's--when it's at the level it should be, as it is now--the basketball season is a little like running for the presidency.  There's a campaign phase and there's a governing phase and they are two distinctly different challenges.

            The campaign phase for a basketball team is the four months of the regular season when you attempt to secure a number one seed or something close to it.  In the last 20 years, only once has the NCAA tournament champion not been among the top three seeds in a regional (Arizona winning it all as a four-seed over Kentucky in overtime in '97 is the exception).

            The governing phase is the tournament.  Once the campaign has positioned you with a high enough seeding to have a realistic chance of winning it all, a team has to be playing its best basketball in order to win the six games it takes to bring home the championship trophy.

            For the Kentucky Wildcats, the second half of the SEC regular season and the three days they hope to play in the league tournament in Nashville are all about getting that piece of the puzzle in place.  Barring a very unlikely collapse, Kentucky has put itself in position to be a one or two seed.  Forget about the RPI for this discussion because if the Cats go into Selection Sunday with no more three losses, they're probably home free for a one seed.  The reason is that the Big East teams figure to knock each other off a time or two and no other teams are going to have the resume it takes to get one of those four 1's from the selection committee.

            John Calipari knows he has the talent on his team to go all the way, but relying so heavily on freshmen is no doubt an uneasy feeling for any coach.  That's why I imagine you'll hear him harping on a few key points down the stretch--cutting down on turnovers (50 in the last 3 games), limiting offensive rebounds (the big issue in the team's one loss),

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