By Neil Schmidt
Enquirer contributor

BIG BLUE MADNESS

When: Tonight. Where: Memorial Coliseum, Lexington. Admission: Free tickets have all been distributed. Doors open: 10:30 p.m., only to ticket-holders. UK will take the floor seconds after midnight. Highlights: The program begins at 11 p.m., with fan contests, video highlights, and introduction of the women's team. TV: Fox Sports Net, Insight Ch. 6 in Northern Kentucky (live, 11:30 p.m.).

Kentucky basketball has done plenty of winning lately.

About the only way it could have heightened its fans' sky-high expectations was to bring in, say, three McDonald's All-Americans. Which it just has.

Which even Tubby Smith acknowledges adds some urgency - if not pressure - to this season.

"Yeah, we need to get to the Final Four," the UK coach said in May, when he announced his signees. "And I'm getting pretty antsy about not being there the last couple years, especially because I felt we had a team capable of doing it."

Smith's first UK team won the 1998 national championship, but the Wildcats haven't been back to the Final Four.

Just two starters, Chuck Hayes and Kelenna Azubuike, return from last season.

Yet the All-America trio of Randolph Morris, Joe Crawford and Rajon Rondo - along with a fourth freshman, Ramel Bradley, and transfer Patrick Sparks - gave Smith the consensus top recruiting class in the nation.

All of which sets up a premature-or-precocious debate about this season. To critics, the newcomers appear either green - Street & Smith's said, "On paper, Kentucky should finish fifth in the (Southeastern Conference) East Division" - or great, as UK's No. 6 ranking by Lindy's suggests.

Most preseason magazines have UK jockeying for the top 10, including The Sporting News (No. 9), Slam (10) and Blue Ribbon (11).

How good are the newcomers?

Smith doesn't need McDonald's All-Americans - the 2003-04 team had none - but he was all smiles when this group arrived.

Consider: Street & Smith's, Lindy's and Athlon all picked Morris as the SEC's top newcomer/freshman. The Sporting News gave Crawford that honor, while comparing Sparks' game to former NBA star Scott Skiles. Steve Smith, coach of prep power Oak Hill Academy, called Rondo his best point guard in 20 years.

Tubby Smith, meanwhile, has tried to suggest there's enough of a nucleus intact that he won't have to pressure his freshmen.

"They're not going to be asked to carry any type of load," he said.

Who's the leader?

Hayes, unquestionably.

He won't be the biggest scorer - Azubuike appears poised for huge numbers - but he's the grittiest player and the emotional anchor.

Who starts in the backcourt?

Sparks, a transfer from Western Kentucky, should start at the point; Rondo also will get minutes. Sparks scored 23 points in the Blue-White scrimmage a year ago.

Shooting guard is up for grabs. Senior Josh Carrier or junior Ravi Moss could start early in the season, but Crawford appears the inevitable fit at that spot and could win the job immediately.

Bradley should see minutes at both guard spots.

Who provides the inside depth?

The 6-foot-11, 250-pound Morris is expected to start alongside Hayes in the post. That means Sheray Thomas, Bobby Perry and Lukasz Obrzut should be their subs.

Thomas was impressive late last season. He had unspecified surgery a week ago - UK released no details because of the Federal Privacy Act - but is expected back in a month.

How will the perimeter shooting be?

That's up to the newcomers, who will have their chances.

Among returning guards, Moss made the most 3-pointers last season: nine.

Azubuike, a swingman more fit for slashing to the basket, hit 37 3-pointers last season and will be expected to drift outside occasionally and bust zone defenses.

Yet Smith's UK teams have never really relied on long-range shooting. His best perimeter team was his first, the '98 champs, and even that group made just 36.7 percent of its 3s.

How's the nonconference schedule?

Not quite as harrowing as in recent years. With Indiana figured for another rebuilding year, the only scary matchups are with North Carolina, Louisville and Kansas. The bad news: The first two of those three are on the road.

E-mail neilcschmidt@yahoo.com