November is out, December is in, and -- if we may paraphrase some of history's greatest philosophers -- it's time to find out what happens when college basketball stops being polite and starts getting real.

This may be overstating the case somewhat. November was pretty great, after all, from the Armed Forces Classic openers on Nov. 11 to the wave of fascinating ACC/Big Ten Challenge games in the month's final two days. Still, the first Saturday of December feels like the first real college hoops Saturday of the season, an eight-hour afternoon comprising four consecutive, overlapping top-25 tests.

No. 11 UCLA at No. 1 Kentucky, Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET, CBS

Nowhere does this theme feel more fitting than Lexington, Kentucky, where UCLA, led by point guard Lonzo Ball, will face a downright terrifying No. 1-ranked Kentucky team.

Ball's pre-Westwood hype felt almost impossibly high entering the season (at least until some ugly shooting in the Bruins' August exhibition trip tempered expectations somewhat); the 6-foot-6 guard, ranked fourth in the well-appointed 2016 class, was charged with with nothing less than rescuing UCLA basketball from a chronic case of bad vibes. (Seventeen losses, the "Fire Alford"-banner flying above Pauley Pavilion, a coach inclined to return a chunk of his contract as a gesture of apology -- these are not exactly signs of a thriving programmatic culture). And you know what? Thus far, he basically has.

The Bruins are 8-0 -- five of which, admittedly, came against cupcake opponents at Pauley Pavilion, and all eight of which were played within the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. Still, by this time last season, the Bruins had already fallen to Monmouth (at home) and Wake Forest (on a neutral floor), and weren't, even in their best moments (wins against Kentucky and Gonzaga) playing anywhere near the kind of free-wheeling, uptempo offense Ball has made possible. His offensive rating through eight games is 140.2; he's shooting 69.7 percent from 2 and 47.4 percent from 3; he's recording an assist on 38 percent of his available possessions; he's turning it over on less than 17 percent of the same. (After UCLA's hard-fought win against Texas A&M on Sunday, ESPN's Jay Bilas said Ball was "Jason Kidd at the same age," which sounded unreasonable ... right up until the point that we looked at these numbers.

In the meantime, Ball has relieved many UCLA fans' greatest source of stress, by relieving the constant ballhandling and scoring burdens Bryce Alford faced a season ago. Alford is now free to work off the ball, play off screens, locate space and know -- because he is playing alongside a 6-foot-6 future lottery pick who might already be the best passer in college basketball -- that good, open looks will come. Alford's usage is down; his efficiency is way up. Throw in Isaac Hamilton's improvement and the not-inconsiderable skills of freshman forward TJ Leaf, and UCLA is the nation's best all-around shooting team to date -- in the top five in both 2-point and 3-point field goal percentage.

Still: With all due respect to (possibly slightly underrated) Texas A&M and even (less possibly slightly underrated) Nebraska, it's safe to say Ball and his Bruins haven't seen anything like Kentucky yet.

True story: On Monday night, Kentucky beat Arizona State 115-69. On a neutral floor. With 83 possessions. In 40 minutes. De'Aaron Fox, whose game looks like a left-handed John Wall's, posted the second triple-double in UK basketball history in the win. Malik Monk did this. No, seriously: Kentucky looks terrifying.

And still: Depending on where you come down on Michigan State -- "talented, young, banged up, we'll see" seems like the appropriate landing place here -- it may be just as safe to say that Kentucky has yet to see a team as good as UCLA. It certainly hasn't seen one playing this well, or one led by a guard like Ball.

Whether the Bruins have a sincere chance of winning at Rupp Arena is almost beside the point; in Lexington on Saturday the sheer fact of a win or a loss will matter far less than the kind of performance that preceded it. Just how good are these guys anyway?

No. 7 Xavier at No. 9 Baylor, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2 and ESPN App

All things considered, few teams in the country offer as much quantitative certainty as Baylor. That's pretty crazy, considering the lukewarm, fringe top-25-at-best expectations for Scott Drew's team heading into the season. Yet here we are, nearly a month into the season, and while most of the nation's best teams have grabbed an impressive win or two, Baylor is 7-0 with victories against Oregon, VCU, Michigan State and Louisville. It would take a jarring nosedive to feel suddenly uncomfortable with the notion of Baylor as a top-10 team, in other words. Xavier is the wild card here: Wins against Clemson and Northern Iowa (twice in the same week, no less) don't quite have the same kind of perception-boosting impact that a road win against the surprise of the season to date would bring. We'll see.

No. 8 Gonzaga vs. No. 16 Arizona, Saturday, 5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN and ESPN App

No matter how deep into the season we get, until mysteriously absent sophomore guard Allonzo Trier either returns to the lineup or is officially ruled ineligible, an aura of untapped promise will hover just above the Arizona Wildcats. Not that there isn't plenty to like already -- specifically Finnish freshman Lauri Markkanen, a 7-foot forward shooting 59.5 percent from 2, 89.2 percent from the free throw line and 47 percent from 3 thus far (and leading his team in 3-point attempts). Classmate Kobi Simmons has been nearly as impressive filling in for Trier on the wing. With the possible exception of perimeter defense, the Wildcats don't do anything at an even remotely below-average level. And yet, heading into a neutral-floor game (at Staples Center) against a new-look, transfer-led Gonzaga team -- where Nigel Williams-Goss, Johnathan Williams and Jordan Mathews have all taken immediate lead roles -- it is hard not to wonder just how good Arizona might be with their star sophomore along for the ride.

No. 25 West Virginia at No. 6 Virginia, Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPNU and ESPN App

Virginia coach Tony Bennett is not the screaming type, but after point guard London Perrantes put up four points and three turnovers in the first half Wednesday against Ohio State -- a game the Cavaliers trailed 36-24 at halftime in their own typically impenetrable building -- Bennett "got after" his senior guard in earnest. After his 15-point second half keyed the Cav's comeback, Perrantes said the discussion was "the most I got ripped by him since I've been here and it sparked us all." Bennett will (more calmly) be walking his team through its collective offensive struggles against the Buckeyes in advance of Saturday's game against West Virginia, which, surprise surprise, is pressing its opponents into the nation's highest turnover and steals rates through its first six games. Virginia turns the ball over rarely on its best nights, but even a brief lapse into carelessness -- and the necessity of Perrantes' performance -- can be followed rather quickly by vulnerability.