College basketball!

The 64th NBA All-Star game took place on Sunday night in New York City, and the Western All-Stars defeated the Eastern All-Stars in a high-scoring affair, 163-158. Since the NBA has taken a break and some players have returned to their collegiate stomping grounds, I too will take a peek into the college basketball world.

The No. 1 team remains mighty Kentucky, and after last night’s road win at Tennessee, the Wildcats are off to a school-record 26-0.They have answered every challenge they have faced, including a week in early January of two overtime games against inferior opponents in Ole Miss and Texas A&M.

After junior forward Alex Poythress tore his ACL earlier this year, it seemed that the platoon system would be doomed. Quite the opposite. Once again led by a dominant first-year class, coach John Calipari's Wildcats are proving their doubters wrong. His “one-and-done” style was questioned last year when Julius Randle, James Young and company did not quite click during the regular season on their way to an eight-seed in the NCAA tournament, but they went all the way to the national championship, and that is the last game Calipari lost. Maybe we should listen to Calipari and start calling his system “succeed and proceed.”

When I fill out my bracket on Selection Sunday, which is March 15, I will probably slide Kentucky right into the Final Four and maybe even into the big national championship box. But there will be 67 other teams that will try to steal the nets away from Kentucky.

Another clear No. 1 seed is Virginia. Coach Tony Bennett’s squad gives up the fewest points per game in the nation at 50.8 and plays exemplary team defense. The Cavaliers sit at No. 2 in the national rankings and have earned a 24-1 record, with the lone loss coming at home to Duke on Jan. 31.

The other team I like a lot is Wisconsin, who I think can go undefeated from here on out until the tournament. The Badgers’ only tough games come on the road at Maryland on Feb. 24 and at Ohio State on March 8. Bo Ryan coaches a contender year in and year out, and with senior forward Frank Kaminsky, arguably the country’s best big man, and Sam Dekker leading the charge, this year is no different.

Gonzaga is No. 3 in the country in this week’s polls with a record of 26-1. Similar to Wichita State, who entered the NCAA tournament undefeated and lost in the third round (yes, it’s technically the third round) to Kentucky, the Bulldogs from Spokane play in a weak conference. Kentucky junior transfer forward Kyle Wiltjer leads the team with 16.4 points per game and senior point guard Kevin Pangos adds veteran leadership. The lone loss comes back on Dec. 6 at Arizona; save for this one game, against a Wildcats team that was No. 9 in the country at the time, this Gonzaga team is not battle-tested. For that reason, I do not think they will make a deep tourney run.

The Big 12 has beaten each other up all season, and despite how top-heavy the ACC is, I believe the Big 12 is the deepest conference in the country. Bill Self’s Jayhawks are just four wins away from an 11th consecutive regular season Big 12 crown, as it appears the trophy will be staying in Lawrence. Other conference leaders include Villanova from the Big East and Arizona and Utah from the Pac-12.

The tournament is always fun, but this year there are not the type of dominant teams we are accustomed to seeing. My way-too-early Final Four prediction: Kentucky, Wisconsin, Arizona and Iowa State.