CoachCal.com’s Metz Camfield contributed to this notebook.NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats know their quarterfinal opponent in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, and it’s a very familiar foe at that.Florida defeated Alabama 69-61 on Thursday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., setting up the second matchup in a matter of seven days against the Wildcats, and the third matchup in just five weeks.”Sometimes (it’s) a little bit more difficult when you play against a team that you haven’t seen since let’s say the middle of January,” Florida head coach Billy Donovan said. “So, these guys will be a little bit familiar with it. The quick turnaround, we’re excited we get the opportunity to play.”And in the eyes of Kentucky head coach John Calipari, they should be excited.”They’re good,” Coach Cal said. “Everybody is excited about playing us. I’d imagine they were because they played us good both games. My team’s – we had a great practice today. I think they’re ready to play basketball, whoever it is. They’re capable of beating us. No question.”Kentucky topped Florida 68-61 in an exciting game in Gainesville, Fla., but trailed by nine in the first half and didn’t take the lead for good until Willie Cauley-Stein’s legendary dunk with 12:09 left in the second half. The Cats benefitted greatly by going 21 of 22 at the free-throw line in that game.Then on Saturday, Kentucky and Florida were separated by just three points with 10:28 remaining in the game before the Cats gained separation in the final 10 minutes.”They’re healthy,” Coach Cal said. “They’ve got a full complement of guys. They should be confident. They played us twice really good.”UK assistant coach John Robic said Tuesday that he feels the concept of “it’s difficult to beat a team three times” is a bit exaggerated, saying instead, “it’s the next game,” and agreed with Donovan in that sometimes it can be more difficult when you haven’t played the opponent in a long time because of all that can change during that time in between.For Kentucky, the SEC Tournament offers the Cats another opportunity to continue to strive to become the best version of themselves. Cauley-Stein said some players were right mentally, and others were still trying to get right, even critiquing himself by saying he has played tentatively of late.”We feed off him,” Coach Cal said. “He’s that one guy that can do stuff a normal player can’t do, and he hasn’t been doing it. He’s been getting scored on, he’s missing a lot of shots just by–they’re physical with him and he’s not balanced coming back. But I think he’ll be fine.”The question that continues to circle around Kentucky, is what if everyone does in fact click at once and becomes the best version of themselves. Thousands of members of Big Blue Nation who have flocked to Nashville will be hoping to see just that.”We’ve had some games this year,” Coach Cal said. “You know what it looks like.” Seeing is believing when it comes to Cats fans at SEC TournamentAll season long, UK has relied on its veterans to shepherd its four freshmen.The experience has been invaluable as the Wildcats have made it four months and 31 games without a loss, but it won’t matter much this weekend.Kentucky, with its No. 1 overall seed all but assured and John Calipari indifferent toward conference tournaments, has decided it will play for the fans in the Southeastern Conference Tournament. It’s the same approach the Cats took a year ago, but Coach Cal isn’t even bothering to ask his returners to tell the newcomers about just how unbelievable the fan support will be. It’s just not necessary.”They’ll see it if they don’t know,” Calipari said. “When we walk into the game they’ll be like, ‘What in the world is this?’ “If the Cats watched Wednesday’s games at Bridgestone Arena, they’d already have figured it out.As Mississippi State, Auburn, South Carolina and Missouri played a pair of first-round games, most fans – even though their beloved Cats wouldn’t play for two days – wore Kentucky blue.”I think they’re crazy, but I’ve said it before,” Calipari said. “They’re nuts. But it makes them what they are and they’re passionate about letting everybody know, ‘I’m a Kentucky fan.’ “They’ll be a little more vocal about that Friday afternoon, which Calipari appreciates. That still doesn’t change what has to happen on the floor.”I guess it would be better that we had more fans than the other team, but this comes down to us being a good basketball team and playing well,” Calipari said. “And I keep saying it: I’m concerned about my team. No one else. If someone else is playing out of their minds and we get beat, we get beat. My thing is, how do we continue to grow and be at our best? And if that’s not good enough, it’s not good enough.”Calipari expecting tough tournament roadTechnically, the postseason begins for Kentucky on Friday.Coach Cal doesn’t have much time for technicalities.”The real part starts when Sunday we hear how tough our bracket’s going to be,” Calipari said. “That’s when the real stuff starts.”The Selection Show on Sunday will be when the Cats find out their path to Indianapolis for the Final Four. Calipari doesn’t expect a primrose path to be laid in front of them.”It’ll be hard,” Calipari said. “They called the Lakers and they can’t pull out of the NBA right now so I don’t think they’ll be in there. But it’ll be a hard bracket. There won’t be a, you’re the (top) one seed, you should have this kind of road. No. It will not be that. And that’s fine.”And even if it’s a professional team awaiting them as a No. 16 seed, the Cats will say, “Bring it on.””I think if we had to see Oklahoma City or Cleveland, those would be tough,” Calipari said. “I’m not sure. And they tell me that Portland’s as big as we are. So those would be teams I wouldn’t want to see. I hate to say that because they may try to get those people in there.”Preparation changing with tournament formatSome coaches are insistent in approaching tournament play just the same as the regular season.Not Coach Cal.”Oh, it changes,” Calipari said.With the prospect of playing three games in three days ahead of his team, Calipari is cutting back.”We won’t have a shoot-around tomorrow,” Calipari said. “We will just go right to the gym. If we’re lucky enough to win we won’t have a shoot-around on Saturday. If you’re lucky enough to win you won’t have one Sunday. You’ll come back and let the next game finish and do some film and walk through and just play basketball games. You’re not really doing anything.”