OK, let me make an admission. I in no way thought the Kentucky Wildcats would go undefeated (15-0) through the non-conference portion of their schedule. No way, no how, I thought, would they glide through a brutal three-game stretch against North Carolina, Connecticut and Indiana unscathed. Louisville, as always, was a major hurdle.I was wrong. There, I said it. Now comes the difficult 16-game Southeastern Conference schedule. Do the Cats have what it takes to make it through the year undefeated? Do they even have enough to win the conference? Here are the main hurdles entering conference play:1.) Familiarity – Knowing your opponent is an advantage. When you know the tendencies of a team, it’s easier to scout, easier to game plan for and easier to defend, especially when you play an opponent twice in one season. Although UK’s roster has undergone a major overhaul from last season, teams like Georgia are fairly familiar with the play of Patrick Patterson, Ramon Harris and Perry Stevenson. Look no farther than John Calipari’s past Memphis teams. Although Calipari posted the best four-year mark in NCAA history the last four years, his Tigers went through wars against a much weaker Conference USA.”Any league you’re in, when you have to go on the road, it’s hard. It’s just hard,” Calipari said. “It was the same in (C-USA). We won a lot of close games.”For more proof, just look to last week’s annual battle with Louisville. Although the Cats and Cardinals aren’t conference affiliates, they play each other so much that they know each other’s games. The end result is usually an all-out war. Expect no difference against the brethren of the SEC.2.) Physicality – Some of the Kentucky players admitted Friday that they’ve pushed around some smaller non-conference opponents. No offense to the little guy, but size rules in college basketball. The SEC certainly isn’t short on muscle or height.”It’s good that we just had a game against Louisville which was real physical because that’s what it is. It gets more physical playing SEC schools,” senior guard Mark Krebs said. “You’re not going to play teams that are a lot smaller than you anymore, so you’re going to have to play teams that are just like you physically and you’ve just got to out-tough them.”Kentucky has one of the tallest teams in the nation, but how will it handle the trees of the SEC like Mississippi State’s Jarvis Varnado? Familiarity fosters more physical and aggressive play. Kentucky’s young, unproven freshmen have never been through the rigors of league play. How they handle the elbows, the foul calls and the brutality of the SEC will determine the Cats’ undefeated chances.3.) Experience – Don’t let some of the non-conference losses fool you. The league march the Cats are about to embark upon is considerably tougher than the one they went through a year ago. As of now, Joe Lunardi of ESPN predicts that six teams will make the Big Dance in March, three more than last year. Veterans like Varnado, South Carolina’s Devan Downey, Vanderbilt’s A.J. Ogilvy and LSU’s Tasmin Mitchll have returned to make the SEC a much more formidable conference than the one UK struggled to get through last season.Kentucky’s opponent on Saturday, Georgia, provides all the proof for the league’s improvement. Last year’s SEC East dweller has remarkably improved. Earlier in the week the Bulldogs upset nationally ranked Georgia Tech. “They had a chance to beat them pretty good, too,” Calipari said. “Georgia Tech hung around, but the reality from the start to finish is it was Georgia. They’re physical, they’re big, they’ve got an athletic small forward, their guards can shoot. They’re a good team.”4.) Non-conference means nothing – The Kentucky name might be back nationally with an undefeated start to the season, but that means nothing to the teams of the SEC. Where other teams might falter at the challenge of walking into Rupp Arena, the SEC teams look forward to it. It’s an opportunity for them.Any good feeling the Cats might be riding now would quickly evaporate with a couple of conference losses. There’s no such thing as momentum as UK starts the second half of its season. “It’s the start of a new season,” Stevenson said. “It only helps with the selection committee and all that stuff. It does nothing for you in the conference.”