Kentucky won’t have to wait long to put its new No. 1 ranking to the test.

Thursday night’s game against St. John’s marks the beginning of a tough stretch of nonconference games for John Calipari and the Cats (6-0) that is widely considered one of the first real tests for this young team.

St. John’s, North Carolina and Indiana are all waiting patiently in the wings for their chance to knock off the new No. 1. After taking on St. John’s Thursday (7:30 p.m. on ESPN2) in the Big East/SEC Challenge, the Wildcats will have one day to turn around and host North Carolina on Saturday.  The Wildcats then get a week off before going to Bloomington, Ind., to play the rival Hoosiers.

Basketball fans across the nation have had Dec. 3 circled on their calendars since it was announced that the preseason’s top two teams would face off in Lexington. Carolina slid to No. 5 in the rankings after its loss to UNLV over the weekend, allowing the Cats to sit atop the rankings for the first time since the 2009-10 season.

Coach Cal is no stranger to all the hype that comes with a No. 1 ranking (he’s one of  just two coaches to lead three teams to a No. 1 ranking and is 42-6 as the top-ranked coach in the country) and has been preparing his young team for the spotlight this week. He says he has upped the intensity in practice to keep everyone focused and on the same page.

“Just raising the bar to get them to forget all that other stuff,” Calipari said. “We’re worried about getting better. That’s all we’re worried about. Forget ranking. All that becomes is a bigger target on your back.”

A target, but not a burden, Calipari says.

“It’s a badge of honor,” Calipari said. “That’s what this is. Playing here, this is what you’re trying to attain. It’s not when we want it, but we’re there so let’s see how we perform.”

North Carolina found out the hard way that the No. 1 ranking truly is a target for everyone else. It can also be hollow. Calipari noted Wednesday that everyone is quick to point out North Carolina’s weaknesses and praise Ohio State after the events of the last few days, but Coach Cal said North Carolina is still one of the best teams in the country.

Rankings aside, Calipari’s main goal for this stretch of the year is to get better. He is too worried about getting his team to start games faster and flow within the offense to pay too much attention to the number next to his team.

“Obviously not everybody thought we should be No. 1 (because) 30 percent of the voters voted for someone else, which is really unusual,” Calipari said. “Normally whoever ascends you get a majority of the votes. That didn’t happen. We’ll see if they’re right in how we practice, how we approach this.”

Another challenge of a No. 1 ranking is getting the players to prepare for games like they are the underdog. With teams like Ohio State and Syracuse nipping at their heels, Calipari has the Wildcats worrying only about things they can control.

“It’s an honor, but it’s only November,” freshman forward Anthony Davis said. “We have a whole college season ahead of us. It doesn’t mean anything.”

With so much hype surrounding this weekend’s matchup with UNC, the players can ill afford to overlook a young but very talented St. John’s team.

“We’re not looking past it at all,” Teague said. “We know St. John’s is a really good team and we’re not taking them lightly. We’ll worry about North Carolina on Saturday.”

St. John’s will come into Rupp Arena with a 4-3 record. Like Kentucky, a bulk of St. John’s’ minutes are played by freshmen. Calipari knows the young, athletic Red Storm team could give Kentucky problems if the Cats don’t execute.

“They were up eight with six minutes to go on Arizona,” Calipari said. “They’re young, but they’re athletic and they’re active. You’re going to see a team that tries to steal every ball, dives on the floor, take charges. These guys ball.”

The short turnaround between the St. John’s and North Carolina also presents problems. A Thursday night game followed by a Saturday afternoon matchup gives this weekend an NCAA tournament feel.

Kentucky is accustomed to getting the day after a game off to recover, but this Friday will be used to squeeze in as much preparation as possible for the UNC game.

“These are learning opportunities and you can’t learn against Popcorn State,” Calipari said. “You just can’t. You can play those games and you’ve got to fill out your schedule, but you need these kinds of games. You just don’t need 12 of them, especially when you’ve got a young team.”

Lavin to miss UK game

St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin will not be making the trip to Lexington with his team for Thursday’s game. Lavin is recovering from prostate cancer surgery.

Lavin has already missed three games this season due to the surgery. He is now cancer-free, but hasn’t regained enough stamina to coach yet.

Assistant coach Mike Dunlap will coach St. John’s while Lavin recovers.