By Ira D. Combs Syndicated Columnist
Tri State Sports Media Service Inc.

We have finally arrived at the Commonwealth of Kentucky sports fan's most special time of year.

Any college basketball coach will tell you that they divide each basketball season into four seasons. The first being the preseason practices, the second being the November and December non-conference season, the third being the conference season, and the fourth and final being the postseason.

UK and its popular and battle tested coach John Calpari have finally reached the point of the 2009-2010 season that Big Blue Nation covets the most, we all call it March Madness and this particular year it's as special as ever since it's been a few years (five in my eyes) that UK has had a legitimate chance at making some noise and advancing in the NCAA's.

While UK has all but secured a #1 seed in the Big Dance it still could be bumped down to a two seed should the Cats exit early in the SEC tourney down in Nashville this week. A win on Friday should finalize the NCAA tournament committee's opinion of UK as a solid #1 seed, definitely two wins this weekend would do it.

Problem is the difference between a one and two seed supposedly is that the ones are supposed to get geographic considerations when it comes to being placed at first round sites of the tournament closest to their town or campus.

This year however, the closest first round sites to Lexington are Jacksonville, Florida, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, or New Orleans, Louisiana. Should, or let's say when, Cal's Cats advance to regional play you can see another part of this great nation if you have enough funds left. Regional play for the Cats according to the ESPN gurus of college hoops will take place at either Syracuse, New York or St. Louis, Missouri. My gut tells me you can pencil in Kansas for St. Louis and since Syracuse can't play on their home court that looks like a good destination for UK based on the fact they take care of business this weekend in Nashville.

Then, if all of Big Blue Nation's dreams come true since the John Calipari news conference last April we can all gather in Indianapolis, Indiana for the Final Four on the weekend of April 3rd and 5th to celebrate the complete revival of UK basketball with its 8th NCAA championship.

So pack your bags, bust the bottom of the piggy bank jar and get ready to max out the credit cards, because if you're going to follow the Cats this postseason it's going to cost you.

You can see the NCAA Selection Show live at 6:00 p.m. Sunday on either (WKYT-27 in Lexington or WYMT-57 in Hazard) and then get more televised coverage of the NCAA tournament by turning immediately to the ESPN network for their popular college basketball expert panel of Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps, Bobby Knight, Dick Vitale critique of this year's tourney pairings.

Yes, the UK sports fan's most popular time of year is here once again and we're back folks, let's enjoy.

Go to www.combsbrothersonkysports.com for more coverage of the Kentucky Wildcats and KHSAA Sports.