COLUMBUS, OHIO ? Kentucky is about to take a familiar trip to a very warm place.

Today, the top-seeded Wildcats will play ninth-seeded Alabama-Birmingham in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the first matchup between the schools in 23 years but under eerily similar circumstances.

The time warp won’t feel nearly that long for Kentucky since UAB plays the same “40 minutes of Hell” style with which former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson tormented the Wildcats and other SEC teams for years.

“It’s a mirror image of the Razorbacks, the way the Blazers are playing,” Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. “Nobody likes it. It’s tough.”

And it’s the only system UAB coach Mike Anderson knows.

Anderson adopted the press-’em-’til-they-drop philosophy after serving as an assistant for 17 years under Richardson, and the Blazers’ second-year coach plans to bedevil the Wildcats (27-4) in the St. Louis Regional.

“I’ve seen it work,” Anderson said.

It did to perfection on Friday night in the opening round. The Blazers played at their typical breakneck pace from the opening tip while outlasting eighth-seeded Washington, 102-100, for their first NCAA Tourney win since 1986.

They’ll attack the Wildcats the same way.

Kentucky knows what’s coming, but fortunately the tournament’s highest-seeded team got a preview in the first round as it was forced to hold off stubborn Florida A&M, 96-76.

After the Wildcats’ 13th straight first-round win, someone scribbled “five more” on the chalkboard in Kentucky’s locker room, a reference to the number of wins it will take to win an eighth NCAA title.

Maybe “play better defense” would have been a more appropriate message.

The Wildcats were less than impressive in beating the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference champions. In fact, for nearly 30 minutes the 16th-seeded Rattlers made Kentucky look rather ordinary — and vulnerable.

In today’s other second-round game at Nationwide Arena, fourth-seeded Cincinnati (25-6) plays fifth-seeded Illinois (25-6) in the Atlanta Regional.

The matchup has already developed an early story line: muscle vs. mouth.

Over the years, the Bearcats have developed a reputation for trash talking to intimidate opponents. Illinois’ players said they’ve already heard some from Cincinnati.

As the Illini left the floor following their win over Murray State, some of Cincinnati’s players began chirping in the tunnel.

Bearcats guard Tony Bobbitt denied any chattiness.

“We were getting excited about the game ahead of us,” he said. “If any of our teammates did say anything, we apologize.”