NEW ORLEANS -- Kentucky is without a doubt one of the favorites to reach Indianapolis and make it to the program's 14th Final Four, but before the Wildcats can think about weekend No. 3, they have to make it out of weekend No. 1.

Standing in their way is No. 16 seed East Tennessee State and either No. 8 Texas or No. 9 Wake Forest. Let's take a brief look at the first- and second-round opponents in UK's pod.

No. 16 East Tennessee State Buccaneers

The skinny: The Buccaneers earned an at-large berth into the tournament by winning the Atlantic Sun Tournament. ... ETSU went 20-14 in the regular season, 13-7 in the A-Sun despite losing Mike Smith, the heart and soul of the team, to a season-ending injury. ... Tommy Hubbard, a second-team All-Atlantic Sun selection, leads the Bucs in both scoring (14.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.3). ...  No player stands taller than 6-foot-8 (sophomore Isiah Brown) and only two stand 6-7 or taller. ... Coach Murry Bartow and Kentucky coach John Calipari have a longstanding friendship from Conference USA.

Why Kentucky should be concerned: Although a No. 16 seed has never toppled a No. 1 seed, ETSU has come the closest. The Bucs took No. 1 seed Oklahoma down to the wire in the 1989 tournament before dropping a heartbreaking 72-71 decision. Just last year, ETSU played second for second with Jamie Dixon's one-seeded Pittsburgh before losing 72-62. Sure, those two teams are different from this year's, but play close so many times and you're eventually going to pull off the upset. Kentucky just hopes it's not the first victim.

Key quote(s): "What makes the NCAA Tournament so special is we don't have to play Kentucky seven times. We only have to play them on one given night. Any team is capable of beating another team, no matter the seeding. So every team that comes out and ready to play tomorrow night, throws their hearts out the most and the team that sticks together ,,, has a real good chance." - head coach Murry Bartow

"I would say a No. 1 seed may feel a little pressure as opposed to what we feel as a 16. I think that with them being No. 1, a lot of people predicting them to go pretty far in the tournament, I would say they probably do have a little pressure on them more than we do. I think we just need to go out there and just play. I think we can play loose and kind of play like we have all year." - junior Micah Williams

No. 8 Texas Longhorns

The skinny: The Longhorns enter the postseason as an at-large team after going 24-9 in the regular season, including 9-7 in the Big XII. ... The Longhorns started the season 17-0 and climbed to No. 1 in the national polls before finishing 7-9 down the stretch. ... Senior Damion James, long considered a National Player of the Year candidate, averaged a team-high 18.0 points and 10.4 rebounds per game in the regular season.

Why Kentucky should be concerned: Texas coach Rick Barnes would be the first guy to tell you that the Longhorns struggled down the stretch. Most would even call it a disappointing season. But the fact of the matter is that this was once the No. 1 team in the land. Injuries and struggles at the guard position derailed this team for a bit, but that doesn't change the fact that this team is still made up of Final Four talent. James was at one point a Player of the Year candidate, senior Dexter Pittman can match up with anybody in the nation, including Kentucky's DeMarcus Cousins, because of his 6-foot-10, 290-pound frame, and freshman guard Avery Bradley was one of the top recruits coming out of high school last season. The Cats are hoping the sleeping giant doesn't awake in time for the NCAA Tournament.

Key quote: "I think being No. 1 was cool, but like Dexter (Pittman) said, with Texas being on your jersey, you always took the opponent's best shot. And now it's 65 teams playing for one goal. The team that's better that night for 40 minutes is going to win. We're going out there with that attitude. People forget we were the best team in the country. We're still the same team. We just have to go out there with that swagger and that demeanor and go out there and go at it." - senior Damion James

No. 9 Wake Forest Demon Deacons

The skinny: The Demon Deacons enter the tournament as an at-large team after going 19-10 in the regular season, 9-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. ... Wake Forest notched six wins over teams in the RPI top 50. ... The Deacs are led by All-American forward Al-Farouq Aminu, a 6-foot-9 forward. ... Aminu was the only player in the ACC to average a double-double this season (15.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per game). ... All-ACC guard Ishmael Smith ranks in the top 10 nationally in assists (6.0 assists per game). ... Wake Forest lost five out of their last six games.

Why Kentucky should be concerned: Al-Farouq Aminu, quite possibly the best player you've never heard of. Aminu, in his second season with the Demon Deacons, had a disappointing season by some accounts. But it's hard to be disappointed while averaging a double-double. Aminu, a five-star prospect coming out of high school, has the potential to score 20 points and grab 15 rebounds on any given night and could be a future NBA lottery pick. A Cousins-Aminu matchup down low could be one of the best of the tournament.

Key quote: "It's a fresh start for everyone. But this tournament is a chance for us to really get back to what we were accomplishing early in the season. We've obviously been down a little bit, but we had a couple of great pictures coming in. I feel really confident coming to the tournament." - senior L.D. Williams