Make no mistake about it, John Calipari likes winning. And he plans to win on Sunday against Florida.

But when it comes to Senior Day ceremonies, namely starting the seniors, Calipari doesn’t mess with tradition. In honor of the seniors’ final home game at Rupp Arena, Calipari said he plans to start seniors Ramon Harris, Perry Stevenson and Mark Krebs.

Although Calipari would not give a starting five, one would suspect that lineup includes junior forward Patrick Patterson, who will participate in Senior Day ceremonies.

“I think they deserve it,” Calipari said. “They’ve worked hard, they’re a part of the team, it’s their day. You want to win, but I always say it’s more than winning.”

Calipari made sure to point out that playing them — and leaving them in — won’t be a liability. So long as they do their job, they’ll continue to play.

“I would say it’s going to be an unbelievable crowd,” Calipari said. “It’s going to appreciate the guys and what they’ve done for the program. All of them are a bunch of good guys.”

Calipari will use Patterson as a model for future players who wish to jump to the pros early if they have their degree in hand.

“If a player graduates his junior year and has an opportunity to leave, we’ll honor him,” Calipari said. “If he comes back, he’ll get it twice. If he hadn’t have been graduating, we probably wouldn’t have done it.”

Calipari gave no thought to having John Wall or DeMarcus Cousins, who most believe will jump to the NBA after this season, participate in Senior Day activities because he doesn’t know if they’re coming back or not and neither of them are set to graduate.

The first-year UK coach used the opportunity to take a playful jab at a few Atlantic Coast Conference schools in the process. I’m sure you can figure out which ones he was directing his attention.

“(Graduating) is tough in one year,” Calipari said. “A couple of schools in the ACC you can do that but not here.”