February is upon us. For many, the shortest month of the year brings to mind Super Bowl Sunday, Black History Month and Valentine’s Day. For college hoops fanatics, February means celebrating for a different reason: We’re now just a little over a month away from March 15th — Selection Sunday. 

Little Ten

The excitement is certainly tempered for Illinois’ fanbase, as the Illini (14-8, 4-5 Big Ten) have struggled in conference play and will need a major turnaround for a shot at the NCAA tournament. Perhaps Malcolm Hill’s 27 points and game-winner over Penn State on Saturday will jump start something special for the Illini. John Groce’s team certainly has the talent to still be around come late March, but so far the season has been marred by injuries and suspensions to key players. The Big Ten as a whole is in the midst of its worst campaign in years; currently, No. 4 Wisconsin is the only team playing like a national title contender.

But with a month of basketball still to play, No. 17 Maryland, No. 20 Ohio State and unranked Indiana have plenty of time to catch the Badgers.

AC-See you in the Big Dance

Meanwhile, the Atlantic Coast Conference is enjoying a terrific season. The ACC boasts three of the nation’s top-10 teams in No. 3 Virginia, No. 4 Duke and No. 9 Louisville. Virginia suffered its first defeat of the year in a 69-63 loss to Duke over the weekend, but the Cavaliers bounced back with a 75-64 victory over No. 12 North Carolina on Monday. Junior Justin Anderson led the charge over the Tar Heels with 16 points, seven assists, two blocks and two steals.

Barring a monumental meltdown, Virginia is a lock to make the 68-team March Madness field.

The Cavaliers (20-1, 8-1 ACC) give up just over 50 points per game — good for No. 1 in the country. Their defensive prowess, led by Anderson, is remarkable. Virginia has held three opponents to under 30 points this season. Tony Bennett’s squad won 45-26 against Rutgers, 76-27 versus Harvard and 57-28 in a matchup with Georgia Tech. We’ll have to wait and see if the old adage “defense wins championships” applies to the 2014-15 Virginia Cavaliers.

We might see two ACC schools — Virginia and Duke — earn No. 1 seeds for the first time since North Carolina and Duke did so in 2005. If freshman Blue Devil Jahlil Okafor (18.3 PPG, 9.4 RPG) continues to dominate and the Cavaliers keep up their lockdown D, then it’s a likely outcome.

Unanimous No. 1

I went two weeks without mentioning the top team in the country.

I can’t avoid John Calipari’s undefeated Kentucky team any longer.

The Wildcats reclaimed their unanimous No. 1 spot after manhandling Missouri and Alabama — Virginia’s loss to Duke played a key factor as well. Calipari’s “platoon system” — the substitution of entire five-man squads at once — has resulted in balanced scoring among UK’s plethora of stars. Nine players average roughly 19 minutes per game. Aaron Harrison and Devin Booker contribute the most at 11.5 and 10.7 points per game, respectively, but every rotation player is fully capable of putting the ball in the bucket.

There’s no denying Kentucky will be a force to be reckoned with come tourney time. I’m willing to bet the ‘Cats will be playing in April.

Can Calipari capture his second championship in four years? That remains to be seen.

Eli is a junior in Media. He can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @eschwad.