It was a crisp fall day -- perfect Lexington weather -- and Tubby Smith sat behind a microphone inside Memorial Hall and declared this collection of Wildcats, "the most talented I've coached."

Considering he won the 1998 national title at Kentucky, that was no small statement. When asked if he could change anything about the team, he said no. Did he have any worries?

"No worries," he said with a grin.

Tayshaun Prince and the Wildcats have been struggling to find team chemistry.(AP)

From Pikesville to Paducah, the Big Blue Nation, which always expects to win the national championship, nearly fell over with excitement. The 'Cats were No. 2 in the country. The 'Cats were going to be great.

Sunday night, Kentucky was given a No. 4 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament. With a 20-9 record, that might have been kind. As the Wildcats enter their record 43rd NCAA Tournament, the dream season has turned into a potential nightmare, the worries about their future have never been greater, the stakes for Smith never higher.

UK has lost four of its last nine games -- more losses than many (including conceivably Smith) thought were possible for the season. It enters the NCAA coming off a humiliating 70-57 loss to South Carolina in the SEC quarterfinals.

"We didn't play up to our potential," said Smith.

That has been one of the stories of the season. The other is the seemingly endless off-court drama that has played out in Lexington.

Against South Carolina, Smith sat guard Gerald Fitch for blowing curfew. This was the same player who had been suspended in February for fighting with teammate Cory Sears on a team flight and then, a week later, for getting caught using a fake ID at a Lexington bar along with teammate Erik Daniels.

Fitch is "on the team and expected to play," said Smith. Which is more than can be said for freshman Adam Chiles, who is done for the season after violating a team rule.

In December, there was the transfer of junior big man Marvin Stone, which later became a big controversy when the school wouldn't release him to enroll at rival Louisville. After much media pressure, it finally relented. Within two months, athletic director Larry Ivy, who was instrumental in that decision, lost his job for that and numerous other failures.

There also was some pouting by freshman Rashaad Carruth, the season-long slump of Keith Bogans and the preseason injury to big man Jason Parker that proved more costly than expected. While UK's depth was supposed to absorb the loss of the 6-foot-8 sophomore forward, the lack of a low-post scorer has stymied the offense.

"When we are not scoring inside like we didn't against South Carolina, it can be a long, long night," said Smith.

This has just turned into a long, long season. It seems eons ago that the Rupp Arena crowd was chanting Tubby's name after the Wildcats ran Louisville and former coach Rick Pitino out of the gym. Actually, it was Dec. 29.

At that time, Smith appeared to be settling in, finally being fully embraced by UK fans. The program was riding high after a three-week stretch that saw victories over U of L, Indiana and North Carolina and an overtime loss in a mighty tussle with Duke. UK had the look of a title contender.

Now the Internet message boards and the callers to WHAS in Louisville are frustrated with the petulant players and are all over Smith. It has become a sport in the Commonwealth to openly ponder who'll be the next head man in Lexington.

"It's never easy," said Smith on Monday. "If it were easy we wouldn't have the problems we've had. In three or four games, these distractions cost us the game. It cost us the game against South Carolina. I was distracted, the kids were distracted. It hard to play with all that swirling around us."

Kentucky is not as bad as some fans believe, but it's not as good as it should be. When Tayshaun Prince and Keith Bogans returned to campus this season, rather than pursue professional options, this looked like a team of destiny. But the offense hasn't been consistent, the shooting sporadic (actually down four percentage points this season to 44.8), the defense up and down.

For all the talent Smith acknowledged he had back in October, he also issued a cautionary note that was ignored amid all the excitement.

"We have a lot of talent on this team, but talent does not mean a thing if you do not come together as a team and if the chemistry is not right," he said.

For the dysfunctional Cats, that is still a challenge. In the pressure-cooker that is Kentucky basketball, a soap opera, not a storybook tale, has played out. Now the final act comes and Kentucky needs to get settled, get motivated and get together to avoid what would be one of the most disappointing seasons in the storied history of the program.

That starts Thursday afternoon in St. Louis, when the Wildcats take on a very dangerous, very experienced and very talented Valparaiso team that has won 14 of its past 15 games.

"They're on a roll," Smith said.

UK is not.

This is not a program that tolerates first-round upsets. It is a program that considers last season's loss in the Sweet 16 as an "early departure." It is a program under intense pressure, still capable of a Final Four run but desperately seeking a breakthrough.

The season started with high hopes and no worries. That seems so long ago.