ATLANTA -- When he was hired nearly three years ago to the day, John Calipari told Kentucky fans, "I do not walk on water. I do not have a magic wand."

Silly man. Big Blue Nation doesn't care if he can keep his feet dry. Or if he can channel his inner Harry Potter. All that really matters is if he can climb a ladder next Monday evening in New Orleans and operate a pair of scissors.

If you see him waving a snipped piece of net that night, it means Kentucky has won its first national championship since 1998. Calipari won't have to fly back to Lexington; UK followers will carry him there on their shoulders.

The Wildcats are two wins away from the title, so there is work still to be done. Maybe that's why Calipari didn't make the eight-step trip up the ladder after UK's 82-70 dissection of Baylor in Sunday's South Regional final. Baylor, by the way, played the part of the biology class frog.

John Calipari embraced his wife Ellen after Sunday's victory over Baylor. For Cal and Kentucky, the pressure will be intense over the next week. Paul Abell/US Presswire

This wasn't a game as much as it was an affirmation. Kentucky began the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed and then won its next four games by 15, 15, 12 and 12 points -- the first team since 2009 champ UNC to win its first four tourney games by double digits.

When the Cats land in New Orleans later this week, they'll do so as the clear favorites to win the Final Four.

"Are we the favorite?" said a clearly exhausted Calipari in an empty locker room at the Georgia Dome. "Wowwww. That's a good thing, I guess."

It's a very good thing because it means the Wildcats so far have lived up to every ridiculous expectation placed on them. There are times when you watch this team -- such as when UK turned a 10-5 Baylor lead into a 21-10 Baylor deficit (all in less than five minutes) -- that you have to re-attach your jaw to its hinges. BU coach Scott Drew put it nicely.

"Well, I think in coaching you get done playing a team and the first thing you think is, are they what you thought?" Drew said. "This team's actually better than I thought."

But now comes the hard part for Calipari. He has the best players and the best chance to win it all. But since when does that guarantee anything?

Calipari almost has to return to Lexington with a national championship. If he doesn't, fairly or unfairly, the whispers will become shouts: His one-and-dones can't get it done he needs to recruit players who aren't infatuated with the NBA he can't win the big one.

In a bizarre, wonderful twist of bracket fate, Calipari will have to go through old nemesis Rick Pitino and in-state non-rival (according to Calipari) Louisville. For this, we should thank the basketball gods.

"Me personally, I've been at Kentucky three years," Calipari said. "I've said it all along: We play them one time a year and we're not in the same league. Why do you guys [UK followers] get all worked up? And then they go crazy. Are you out of your mind?

"It's a ball game we've got to play. When do we play? Friday? Saturday? When's the game?"

It's next Saturday, the national semifinal. I can't imagine a TV set in the Commonwealth being tuned to anything but that game.