By LARRY VAUGHT

Let the Cal-i-parti start.

After months of speculation about how good the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class could be, a raucous Big Blue Madness and two exhibition games, it’s finally time for new coach John Calipari to start doing what he does best — win games at Kentucky.

You have to go back to the 1995-96 season to find so much preseason hype and expectations for the Wildcats. Calipari has already worked magic by turning a team that went to the NIT and lost its leading scorer to the NBA into a preseason top five team that is considered a Final Four contender?

Think of the story line if Calipari can take last year’s team that collapsed the second half of the season under Billy Gillispie to the promised land of the Final Four — a place UK has not been since its 1997-98 title season.

Yet let’s remember this season starts with plenty of questions as well. Or at least I have plenty and I thought I owed it to the Big Blue faithful to seek some expert answers. So as you continue to the countdown to Friday’s season-opening game with Morehead, find comfort in how these experts answered my questions.

Question: Will Calipari or junior Patrick Patterson, UK’s first preseason All-American in eight years, have a bigger impact on this team’s success?

Kenny Walker, former UK All-American: “I have a lot of respect for coach Cal and Patrick. The thing about coach Calipari is that he brings a different attitude and everybody is going to love this style of play. I have talked to Patrick, Perry (Stevenson) and Ramon (Harris) and they seem a lot more loose. Last year these guys were not having fun, and I think that is coach Calipari’s job to put the fun back into the game and I think he will with the style of play. I think that will rub off on everybody.

“But ultimately it is Patrick Patterson. I have listened to John Wall, Eric Bledsoe and some of the other kids and they look to him to be the leader. The game is going to be so much easier for him this year. He might not average 25 points a game, but he will be a solid leader and the guy the players all look to in a lot of ways.

“So I will give Patrick a slight edge because he is actually on the court and John Calipari is not.”

Question: Can freshman point guards John Wall and Eric Bledsoe stay happy playing together?

Bledsoe: “We want to put on a show. Everybody on this team can score. Me and John just give them the ball and let them score. John is going to be the No. 1 player in the (NBA) draft. I just want to get better. I knew he was coming here, so that’s not an issue. I think we have already shown everybody we can play well together.”

Question: Will the lack of experience hinder Kentucky’s Southeastern Conference or national title hopes?

Tyler Smith, Tennessee all-SEC senior forward: “Experience can work to your advantage, but UK has great young players. They are the number one recruiting class in the nation. Guys are getting better and better every year, but you can never go wrong with veterans on the team like we have. But that doesn’t mean Kentucky could not be great with a lot of freshmen. It is going to be crazy with Cal at Kentucky. Kentucky is really going to like coach Cal. He is a great recruiter and great coach..”

Question: How good will Kentucky be?

Rick Stansbury, Mississippi State head coach:  “There are 15 to 20 teams going into the season that can probably win a national championship and Kentucky certainly is one of them. You’ve got to be both lucky and good, but they are good.

“John Wall is the most important piece for them because they have not had a point guard. DeMarcus Cousins is a character, but he can play. If Daniel Orton’s knee is okay, he can play.

“They could have three of the top five players (Wall, Cousins and Patrick Patterson) in the country. Patterson will teach the rest of them the work ethic it takes to win. Talented players don’t need experience. They could be a special team this year.”

Question: How much better will sophomore Darius Miller be this year in Calipari’s less restrictive offense?

Patrick Patterson, UK preseason All-American: “Darius loves to drive to the basket and I think playing in the dribble-drive offense will only make him better because you have to put the ball on the floor. He has a tremendous motor and a tremendous shot that has improved a lot over the summer. I think Darius will flourish in this offense.”

Question: Will freshmen DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton, two of the nation’s top-ranked high school big men last year, be able to play together?

Orton: “We are getting more comfortable together. We have been hanging out a lot together recently and getting more cohesive. We are starting to learn each other’s personalities more and spending time together.

“He is a lot of fun to play with and it’s nice to know if I miss a shot, he’s going to have the weakside rebound, and if my man is driving he will block the shot and I also can do the same and help on his man. It is kind of comforting and a relief to have him out there with me. ”

Question: Finally, can the Wildcats win the national title the fans so desperately want to believe this team can?

Patterson: “We know we have a lot of expectations that we want to live up to. The fans talk about being undefeated and winning another national championship, but we believe we can if we put the work in.”

Now all that’s left is for the Cal-i-parti to start Friday against Morehead State and see if the good times can continue all the way to the Final Four in Indianapolis, and while I don’t pretend to know near as much basketball as today’s guest experts, I think I know enough to as least believe this team could do it and it has been a few years since believing that was even realistic.

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