Head coach Ian Collins doesn’t look like a statistics guy nor does he usually talk like a statistics guy, but he has a number that might talk about how undervalued his team is in Conference USA, how overlooked it is by the NCAA Tournament selection committee and how close it is to taking the next step.Over the last four years, Tulsa leads C-USA with 24 conference wins. The team with the second-most wins? Kentucky at 21. After that, the next closest team really isn’t even all that close. SMU, who has made the NCAA Tournament two times over the last four years while the Cats have sat at home, have 16.But Collins isn’t going where you think he’s going with that statistic. He’s putting the void of postseason tournaments on the back of his team. “We have no problem in regular-season games,” Collins said. “We have four second-place trophies. Tulsa’s got six championships. It is a minute gap that we have to conquer. We’re going to do whatever we can to get above the hump. We’ve maybe had some things not go our way, but you can’t look at that. We’ve got to separate ourselves from Tulsa as well. We’ve got to become the toughest team in the conference.”After two NCAA Tournament snubs in the last four years and missing the postseason all together since 2003, Collins is so focused on his team getting better and worrying only about things it can control that the he’d try to make you believe he’s unconcerned about the NCAA Tournament. “For us, we don’t talk too much about the NCAA Tournament anymore because some of the things that have happened to us the last few years,” Collins said. “We just concentrate on winning the championship and trying to win every game. … We lost five regular-season games last year; we should have lost one. We know that. We have the opportunity to put that right. Our focus this year is to really concentrate on every game. It doesn’t matter if it’s Indiana, SMU, Tulsa, Louisville, South Carolina. We have to play every game like it is the last game.”  If the Cats are going to end the streak of near misses, it’s going to start with a rather new cast. A long list of linchpins that includes the likes of two-time C-USA Player of the Year Barry Rice, former captain Jason Griffiths and four-year starting goalkeeper Dan Williams have departed. Tim Crone, Marco do Santos and Chad Hagerty? All gone.”I don’t think you can replace people like Barry Rice and Dan, and to be honest, I think the boys we brought in are going to do a good job for us and I think it is going to be a good year for us,” senior defender/midfielder Brad Walker said.This year’s version of the Kentucky men’s soccer team is young and unproven. Only seven players on the 32-man roster are juniors or older. Sixteen players are freshmen. That doesn’t mean they’re necessarily worse off. Collins said people will understand that if they give the newcomers a chance, pointing out a couple of potential freshman stars in defender Dylan Asher, forward Tyler Riggs, forward Ryan Costen and defender Marco Bordon.”This is their time,” Collins said. “This is a breath of fresh air a little bit and guys now have an opportunity to come in and lay their own legacy and make the program better.”Collins said he could start as many as six freshmen Friday night when the Cats open their season against Eastern Illinois at the UK Soccer Complex. Three of those players could start on the backline, and the one lone veteran in the back, Walker, could move forward as a midfielder, where Collins believes he’s better suited.Also, after a four-man battle for the goalkeeper position for much of the preseason (UK went 2-0-1 in three exhibition games), redshirt freshman Tyler Beadle won the job and will get the start Friday night.It’s a new look and new style for the UK men’s soccer team.”People will not recognize the team Friday and wonder who is who, but I think one or two guys are going to fit in pretty quick and I think the guys are going to do well,” Collins said.But for the Cats to do well this year, Collins said players like Walker, sophomore forward Cameron Wilder and particularly sophomore midfielder Matt Lodge have to be solid.”It is a big season for (Lodge) and he knows it,” Collins said. “He is going to catch more attention from people and get kicked around a little bit, but he has the ability and the mentality and I think this will be a breakout year for him. He had a very good year last year, but I think to me that was just a first step. I am interested to see how many goals he can get, how dangerous he is.”Despite leading the team in goals (six) and points (14), Lodge said he needs to become an even more active goal scorer for Kentucky to return to the postseason.”I’ve got a point to prove,” Lodge said. “I scored some goals last year but I don’t think my performance was all there. This year I’m going to try to step up and score more goals and take lead of the team.”After a midseason stumble last year, the Cats rallied to win their final five regular-season games and made the four-team C-USA Tournament. Ultimately, Kentucky came up short again of the NCAA Tournament, but it gave Collins’ returning veterans some confidence heading into this year.It was also the perfect example of what the Cats are capable of and how close they’ve been to getting over the hump of second-place finishes. This year, Collins is hoping to tear the wall down with youth.”I like this group, I like the leadership and I like the talent level,” Collins said. “To use that old cliché, it is kind of a work in progress, but I think it is going to be a good season. I’m excited.”