The storylines in the Big East are getting more dramatic by the day.

As many as seven league teams have placed themselves in consideration for NCAA Tournament bids, provided they don’t beat up on one another too badly as the regular season winds down into March. Boston College and Syracuse have commanded most of the attention thus far, but this weekend’s most compelling stories were Villanova’s rout of Rutgers and another come-from-behind victory by Pittsburgh.

Villanova coach Jay Wright has endured injuries and offcourt problems in his four seasons, but his Wildcats are playing their best basketball of the season right now. After an upset of previously unbeaten Kansas a week ago and a victory over Notre Dame, the Wildcats took their act on the road, bashing Rutgers, 94-61 on Saturday. That was the Scarlet Knights’ worst loss ever in their Louis Brown Athletic Center and was the largest margin of victory in Villanova’s Big East history.

Two common denominators are driving the Wildcats’ resurgence: three-point shooting and defense.Led by the torrid shooting of guard Allan Ray, Villanova (12-4, 4-3 Big East) has been deadly from behind the arc. Ray torched Kansas for 27 points on 4-of-7 three-point shooting, then scored 23 against Notre Dame and 21 against Rutgers. He made 5-of-7 from three-point range against the Scarlet Knights for a weeklong success ratio of 65%.

On the other end of the floor,Villanova held Kansas, Notre Dame, and Rutgers to a combined 37% shooting. For the season, the Wildcats are first in the Big East in scoring defense and third in field-goal defense.

Like Villanova, Pittsburgh (14-3, 4-2) is winning the bluecollar way, highlighted by bone-rattling defense. During Saturday’s come-from-behind win against no. 4 Syracuse, for example, the Panthers held the Orange scoreless for a six-and-a-half minute stretch of the second half, outscoring them 13-0.

That rally was yet more proof that Pitt coach Jamie Dixon needs to patent his halftime talks. On January 22, the Panthers trailed no. 18 Connecticut by 17 first-half points, only to rally for a 76-66 win. On Saturday, the Panthers trailed Syracuse by 17 points before regrouping for a 76-69 win.

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Virginia coach Pete Gillen’s expensive buyout might not be enough to save him after the Cavaliers’ latest self-destruction, a 110-76 homecourt humiliation administered by North Carolina.Virginia (10-8, 1-7 ACC) looked uninspired as the Tar Heels pounded them, allowing wide-open three-pointers and failing to box out for defensive rebounds.This looks like a team that has packed it in.

Gillen’s inability to win big at Virginia – the Cavaliers have played in the NCAA Tournament just once in his six seasons – has been puzzling to some. He’d been successful at Providence, and before that at Xavier, but his up-tempo game just hasn’t played well at Virginia.Theories abound as to why that’s so, but the best one is this – given Virginia’s strict academic requirements, it’s hard to recruit athletes who can excel in a fast-paced game.

Sure, Duke has done it, but coach Mike Krzyzewski had to weather a few lean years before breaking through with a talented recruiting class that begat years of unprecedented success. More to the point, that was over 20 years ago.The landscape of college basketball has changed considerably since then. Fans want instant gratification, and Gillen hasn’t delivered it.

After Saturday’s disaster, Gillen sounded like a man who has a six-year contract.

“We’re halfway through the conference play,” he said. “I guess we’re 1-7. We’ve still got nine games to play. Hopefully we’ll do better.”

Hopefully we’ll do better? That’s not much of a confidence-builder for Virginia fans.

Virginia has tried everything in Gillen’s tenure, even going so far as to replace his assistant coaches after last season.The Cavaliers will move into a new arena after next season.There are some positive things happening in the program, but Cavalier fans are getting sick of embarrassing losses and trips to the NIT.

The question now is whether Virginia can afford to eat Gillen’s fat contract. After Saturday’s loss to the Tar Heels, Virginia fans might start taking up a collection.

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Moving out West, the Pac-10 is providing its share of interesting stories. Consider Arizona, which beat no. 10 Washington last Thursday to claim sole possession of first place, then lost at home to Washington State, which hadn’t beaten the Wildcats since 1986 and had lost 20 straight at Arizona.

“I’m embarrassed how we played and the effort we put out,” Arizona coach Lute Olsen said. “We still had guys that were thinking about Thursday.We had problems with our veterans. They should know what it is like to have Arizona on their chest.”

Now Arizona has to contend with a surging Stanford team that has beaten the Wildcats three straight. The Cardinal, left for dead after an 0-3 Pac-10 start, have won six straight league games, including three on the road, and now trails Arizona by just one game in the league standings.

Stanford, 12-7 overall, needed some time to adjust to new coach Trent Johnson, who replaced longtime coach Mike Montgomery after the latter left for the NBA. Saddled with a schedule that started with seven straight road games, Johnson stayed patient and has built the Cardinal into a team that wins by working hard and playing solid fundamental basketball. Check Pac-10 team statistics and you won’t find Stanford listed near the top in many categories. But neither are they near the bottom.

With five home games among its last nine in the regular season, Stanford has an opportunity to build an impressive enough resume to return to the NCAA Tournament, just as it annually did under Montgomery. A three-game home swing from February 12 through February 20 that brings Cal, USC, and UCLA to Stanford could hold the key to a postseason destination.

Mr. Dortch is the editor of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Forecast.