Kentucky is an extremely young team, very freshman-heavy in the starting lineup, as befits John Calipari's recruiting philosophy of going after the ultra-talented "one-and-done" types. Last year it was John Wall and Demarcus Couisins that led the way. This year the inside-out combo is Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones. Both average more than 15 points a game. Knight is an excellent point guard, distributing the ball to the tune of four assists per game and being the one the Wildcats often call upon to take the clutch shot. Jones goes to the boards and collects eight rebounds a game. He gets support underneath frm this team's one veteran, senior Josh Harrelson, who is a solid rebounder. Knight is joined by a deep backcourt. Doron Lamb, another double-digit scoring freshman is the top running mate, and Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins combine to give Calipari a very good perimeter game.

Being a young team, Kentucky has gone through its growing pains this season. They got solid wins in December over non-conference Big East rivals Notre Dame and Louisville--with the benefit of hindsight was this an early warning sign about the Big East? Kentucky also beat Pac-10 contender Washington. They lost to North Carolina and UConn and will get a chance to complete double vengeance in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. SEC play was really up-and-down, mainly due to problems on the road. When Calipari's kids left Rupp Arena they struggled mightily, with a record that included losses to Ole Miss and Arkansas, along with the conference contenders and at one point they were a mediocre 7-6 in league play. They closed strong with three straight wins and then blew through the conference tournament. Within that six-game streak they beat conference champ Florida twice along with runner-up Alabama. With those revenge wins, plus the chances they've gotten against North Carolina and UConn, Kentucky is getting a very vivid chance to demonstrate just how much they've improved over the course of the season.

The tradition of this program for winning in March is well-known. I did a double-take on Sunday when CBS' Jim Nantz said they were aiming for their first Final Four since Tubby Smith won a national title here in 1998. My mind began racing through the Final Fours since then, as I realized Nantz was right. How time flies. Especially given that Kentucky hasn't exactly fallen off the map since then. They played in four regional finals between 1999-2010, twice as a #1 seed, but couldn't make it back. Their high point in the post-Wooden era of college basketball was 1996-98, when Rick Pitino built a program that reached three straight final games. Pitino was only there for the first two of those appearances, but the 'Cats won two crowns and lost the 1997 final in overtime to Arizona. Pitino also reached a Final Four in 1993, losing to Jalen Rose's infamous Fab Five Michigan team in the national semifinal. And Joe B. Hall won the program's first title in the modern era in 1978 and also took the team to the 1984 Final Four.

Dan Flaherty is the editor of the Sports Notebook Family, published through the Real Clear Sports Blog Network, offering daily commentary on March Madness and baseball's spring training. He is the author of The Last New Year's, a book that revisits the historic high points of college football's New Year's Day bowl games.