I admit it. I was skeptical.

Let's face it. It wasn't as if Kentucky has torn through an imposing schedule – especially in hostile environments – thus far this season.

The "true" road wins came at Indiana, Auburn, LSU and the most impressive one prior to this week being in Gainesville against a Florida team that could wind up making a third consecutive NIT appearance.

Now, I am a believer.

John Wall stepped up once again and gave Kentucky a road sweep this week of Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.

Kevin Stallings' team, which has earned a spot in the Top 25, is tough.

Brutal in Memorial Gym.

Vandy was 13-0 entering the game.

Now, the Commodores are 13-1 at home after Kentucky's victory on Saturday night.

"That win means a lot," Kentucky’s starting forward Darius Miller told me after the 58-56 win. "That’s a Top 25 team, and it's a tough place to play."

"We've shown people we can play in a hostile environment," DeMarcus Cousins said. "We're a young team, but I don't really think that affects us in big-time situations."

Wall is neck-and-neck with Ohio State's Evan Turner as the nation's top college basketball player, but one area where the Kentucky freshman has his counterpart edged out is game-winning plays.

The Wildcats have more talent than any team in the country with four potential Top 20 picks in the June NBA Draft, but the concern was obviously youth and how guys like Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe would handle going into hostile environments.

Cousins has handled himself well for the most part this season and much of the credit has to go to Kentucky coach John Calipari, who has had experience dealing with flammable personalities (see: Joey Dorsey).

Junior big man Patrick Patterson is steady and delivered a crucial blow to Vandy – a 3-pointer from the right wing in the final couple minutes.

And Wall, who was held in check by Jermaine Beal for much of the game, won it on both ends – with a key garbage basket and then a terrific block of John Jenkins' potential game-winning 3-pointer with seconds left on the clock.

There were plenty of reasons to wonder whether this team was of championship caliber.

There was the Stanford game early in the season when the Cardinals choked it away at the charity stripe. The win against UConn appeared impressive at the time in Madison Square Garden, but the Huskies are an NIT team. There was also a victory against North Carolina in Lexington, but the Tar Heels are likely deserving of a CBI appearance.

Kentucky struggled with Georgia at Rupp and then lost to a mediocre South Carolina team on the road.

But all of that is a distant memory now.

So, too, are my questions on whether Wall and his teammates are capable of cutting down the nets come April in Indianapolis.

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