LOUISVILLE, Ky. – John Calipari has good reason to have faith in his team.He’s got 34 games worth of proof that the magnitude of the NCAA Tournament won’t get to Kentucky.”I think they see what’s happening for each other, and I think they’ll stay the course,” Calipari said.With each passing stage, however, the spotlight will shine brighter. Already, the media throng following the top-seeded Wildcats (34-0) has expanded from its regular-season size ahead of a matchup with 16th-seeded Hampton (17-17), and it’s only the second round.That’s why, in spite of all the evidence suggesting it’s not necessary, Coach Cal will be on guard.”But believe me, I’ll be feeling the pulse every day,” Calipari said.Not only is he feeling the pulse, he’s also hammering home his message about keeping the clutter away every day. The Cats’ unselfish approach has worked too well so far to do anything else.”I stopped them today when we practiced,” Calipari said. “Don’t be changing now. Don’t. No, no, no, no, no. You stay on the path you’re on. Don’t let someone tell you now is the time to go crazy. Don’t do that. Just be the best version of you right now, and that’s good enough.”With the Cats set to start their NCAA Tournament run on Thursday at approximately 9:40 p.m., consider the message received.”You just gotta stay with what got you here,” Willie Cauley-Stein said. “Act like how you did before all the success happened. As a group, we don’t really listen to it. We know what got us here and we know it was work and defense, so we got to stay on that.” Calipari has drawn deserved praise for the work he’s done in inspiring his players to reach toward their potential. He’s been named Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year by both league media and coaches and is a finalist for national honors, recognition he surely appreciates. He’d still rather the recognition go to his players.”Everybody saying, it’s got to be the toughest job of getting these kids to play with their egos,” Calipari said. “They talk about their egos. These kids are just great kids, and I’m coaching them hard.”And they just keep responding, sacrificing and, most of all, winning.”My job is to help them be the best version of themselves,” Calipari said. “Now, they have gotten the point that, if they don’t do this together, they’re hurting each other, and they know that. I want every one of these kids to achieve. This that’s going on, it’s been a great story of every one of these kids giving up something to someone else on the team, all of them feeding off of one another, all of them having each other’s back.”About 15 minutes before Calipari said that, Trey Lyles was sitting in a locker room at the KFC Yum! Center saying almost exactly the same thing. Who says teenagers don’t listen?”Just having everybody’s back,” Lyles said. “Everybody being there for one another. Having a brotherhood on and off the court. We know if one guy’s not playing well somebody else is going to step up. That’s just the thing of–like Coach said–the strength is in the pack.”It’s that strength that the Cats believe will carry them through the NCAA Tournament, though they know challenges lay ahead, as well as off nights for all of UK’s nine regular rotation players. “They don’t have to play great every night, and they don’t, but someone seems to do something to help us win,” Calipari said. “So you’re not under the pressure of I’ve got to be great tonight. No, you don’t. Prepare to be great, but you’re not a machine. You’re not a computer. Be the best you can be.”The hope is that will carry UK to a national championship come April 6, which would mean the first 40-0 season in NCAA history. Talk of a perfect season for UK has consumed the college basketball world, spurring unprecedented national and local attention for a program accustomed to being on center stage.The Cats are happy the tournament has rendered their perfect mark essentially meaningless in their eyes and their opponents’ as well.”It doesn’t really matter about the record anymore,” Dakari Johnson said. “Every team is at 0-0. We’ve just got to come in and just play our hardest and just treat every game like, basically, as if every game is our last.”Once again, the Cats are counting on the pack to get that done.”It’s not that hard to stay in the moment with this team,” Marcus Lee said. “As you see, we enjoy each other very much in everything we do, going through shootarounds or in practice. So with this team, it makes it very easy.”