He picked UK, and then had to live in Indiana for a year.

So yes, freshman guard Marquis Teague heard plenty about his college choice. Fans voiced their displeasure on Facebook and Twitter. People asked him to change his mind when they saw him out in the city. School friends and teachers, Indiana posters on their classroom walls, wanted him to stay in state.

“It bothered me,” Teague said. “I had to talk to my dad a little bit about it. But now I’m used to it, I’ve seen so much of it.”

Which is good, because he’s going to hear more of it Saturday when he travels back home as No. 1 Kentucky (8-0) plays Indiana (8-0) in one of the weekend’s marquee matchups.

“It should be a festive crowd,” said head coach John Calipari, noting the crowd will likely treat it the same way Rupp Arena treated North Carolina coming to town.

“I’m going to get a lot of boos,” Teague said. “I already know.”

He’s been to Assembly Hall a few times before, catching a few Big Ten games when the crowd was amped up. Those visits came back when Teague, whose high school is 64 miles away from Assembly Hall, was being recruited heavily by the Hoosiers.

“It was one of my first offers,” Teague said. “And it was right there. I live right by it.”

He will have family and friends in attendance, and he hopes his growth as a point guard continues in front of them. He’s still rushing plays at times and has 23 turnovers. Calipari gave him tapes of his previous point guards in peak form to give Teague a visual of what he should be playing like.

So Teague, in his homecoming game, wants to prove what he’s got.

As does Kentucky, which is having no trouble staying motivated despite a No. 1 ranking. For one, despite beating then-No. 5 North Carolina, UK lost three first-place votes in the coaches poll.

“It’s funny that we won and we get less votes the week after we beat North Carolina,” Calipari said. “I don’t know if that’s people’s hope or their opinion.”

Three other opinions — that of ESPN writers who picked Indiana to upset UK — have provided a perceived slight that’s allowed UK to keep its edge.

“We see the things on ESPN,” Teague said. “Coach Cal tells us they’re picking us to lose. There’s a lot of games to be the upset and they chose ours.”

Calipari, though, pointed out the logic in those choices. His team is young, and this is UK’s first road test — the closest it’s come is neutral site games against Kansas, Penn State and Old Dominion — against a team that knows it could take an unexpected jump in its rebuilding process with a win.

To do so, Calipari said Indiana will first look inside the freshman center Cody Zeller, averaging 15.5 points and 7.5 rebounds, to see if a power game can beat UK.

The problem for the Cats? If they help off perimeter players to double Zeller, that will leave open shooters on a team that’s making 44 percent of its 3-point shots.

So UK will likely guard Zeller with freshman forward Anthony Davis — who has some experience with Zellers, after holding Cody’s older brother, North Carolina center Tyler Zeller, to 14 points and eight rebounds last Saturday.

And on defense, “any time I’ve coached against Tom [Crean], you have to be ready for some junk,” Calipari said. “He’ll throw all kinds of things at you.”

As will the fans.

“We know they’re going to talk a lot of trash to us,” Teague said.

And, specifically to him, the hometown kid who left home. Teague’s just fine with that, just as he’s fine with having to play against, rather than with, the Hoosiers.

“I just felt like Kentucky was the best,” Teague said.