Cats' talent takes them to Final Four

— -- Aaron Harrison, twins who automatically turned Kentucky's backcourt into one of the nation's best.

In all, he had six McDonald's All-Americans. No coach had ever signed so many. That's when the buzz began. If it all went well, we figured, Kentucky could end the year as the Kentucky team we saw Sunday in Indianapolis.

Kentucky has the most talent in the country at each position. Lee's emergence allowed the program to display its depth, too. The mess that unfolded between that preseason buzz and this valiant run is difficult to describe. This isn't the same team, though.

Those Wildcats lost to South Carolina and Arkansas. They couldn't finish against Florida or other top-25 opponents. But they've always had the advantage because they were never searching for talent -- only chemistry, flow and organization. All attainable traits that tend to come with maturity and experience.

In college basketball, however, you can't make a midseason trade to boost a roster.

So talent is always the most promising ingredient for a potential champion. It doesn't always work (See Kentucky last season). It didn't work most of this season. Kentucky struggled this year when it couldn't secure those elements that champions demand.

And there were no guarantees it would in the final weeks of the 2013-14 season, either. But it did. Now, we see the unbridled Kentucky, every bit the monster we assumed it could be when Calipari assembled this class nearly a year ago.

This season's drama made it easy to forget about Kentucky's potential and focus on its flaws. It made it easy to talk about freshmen and inexperience and immaturity. It made it easy to forget how much gunpowder the Wildcats possessed and the blast we might see if the fuse ever caught fire.

The flames from this group tore down Kansas State, Wichita State, Louisville and Michigan. Kentucky, finally, is who we thought they were: a team with unrivaled athleticism, skill, size and ability. But now the Wildcats have the other ingredients that bring that entire thing together.

Like good food. They just needed some time to cook.