If you pay any attention to mock NBA drafts, you've probably heard that Villanova's Scottie Reynolds lacks the size, athleticism and shot selection to be a premier pro prospect.

Maybe that's true, maybe it isn't, but one thing is certain: There's no better scoring guard than Reynolds in college basketball today.

Held in check in the first half at West Virginia on Monday night, Reynolds erupted after halftime to help Villanova hold off the Mountaineers for an impressive 82-75 victory. Reynolds scored 19 of his 21 points in the final 13 minutes, making sure the Wildcats atoned for their woeful loss at Georgetown two days earlier with exactly the sort of marquee victory they needed to legitimize their top-five ranking.

What was most impressive about Villanova's performance was its resilience in the face of adversity, and Reynolds was consistently at the heart of that. 

When backcourt co-star Corey Fisher picked up his fourth foul with 14 minutes left, Reynolds picked up the slack with a pull-up three and a 3-point play to extend the margin to 10.

When a blown goal-tending call and a West Virginia four-point play again gave the Mountaineers momentum a few minutes later, Reynolds again had the 3-point play that pushed the lead back to 11.

And when Reynolds' own turnover led to a fastbreak slam from Devin Ebanks to pull West Virginia within three with eight minutes remaining, the Villanova senior had a steal, a step-back jumper and two free throws during an 8-3 run that all but sealed the win.

About the only good news for West Virginia was that its infamous student section was on its best behavior the whole night. Heck, the Mountaineers crowd never really had a chance to get in the game the way the Wildcats built a double-figure first-half lead, carving up West Virginia's man-to-man and 1-3-1 zone for 63 percent shooting at halftime. 

Before the game, a graphic flashed on the TV screen revealing that this was the season's first matchup of top five teams.

Not good, obviously, but if we had to wait more than three months for it, at least Reynolds made it memorable.

Apparently out of other ideas to reverse the recent fortune of its suddenly struggling basketball program, Texas will try to usher in some better karma tonight by unveiling new jerseys against top-ranked Kansas.

The Nike HyperElite jerseys thankfully are still burnt orange and white, but they're also 70 percent lighter than traditional basketball uniforms and feature a design so intricate on the back that it might be better suited for a mural.

Among the graphics that appear on the new jerseys are the Longhorn logo, the school motto, the state of Texas, a basketball and the school's most prominent campus landmark, the UT tower.

And, hey, if the lighter jerseys improve Texas' woeful free throw shooting, feature a device designed to get Jordan Hamilton to look for his teammates more often or keep center Dexter Pittman from getting gassed after two possessions, those would be great perks too!   

Several of you have pointed out that a handful of teams have worn this style of jersey in the past year or two. Duke, apparently, is among those, but I'll admit I've never noticed the extra detail on the back on TV so it must be very subtle. 

There's no doubt who our eight bloggers believe the nation's two strongest conferences are heading into mid-February.

Just like last Monday's inaugural edition of our weekly blogger power poll, the Big East and Big Ten dominated the second installment this week with four teams apiece ranked in the top 12.

Kansas maintained its grip on the No. 1 spot, receiving six of eight possible first-place votes. No. 2 Syracuse and No. 3 Kentucky split the remaining first-place votes, while Villanova slipped only to fourth despite a blowout loss at Georgetown on Saturday.

Dropping the furthest in the poll was Texas, which fell from 8th to 14th after its fourth loss in six games on Saturday against Oklahoma. Michigan State lost twice this week but did not drop out of the top 10, voters perhaps taking into account that injured star Kalin Lucas did not play against Illinois. 

Only previously No. 14 Temple fell out of the poll entirely this week after a lopsided loss to Atlantic 10 foe Richmond on Saturday. Gonzaga replaced the Owls at No. 15 on the strength of a convincing victory over Portland and a narrow road win at Memphis.   

1. Kansas (126)

Comment: Survived upset bids from Big 12 bottom feeders Colorado and Nebraska to enter Monday night's showdown with Texas undefeated in conference play. 

2. Syracuse (120)

Comment: A 28-5 game-ending run at Cincinnati helped the Orange overcome a six-point deficit on Saturday and avoid the upset. 

3. Kentucky (114)

Comment: Yes, John Wall is great, but fellow freshman DeMarcus Cousins is averaging 19.5 points and 12.2 rebounds in his last six games.

4. Villanova (104)

Comment: Jay Wright, ever the master of understatment, on surrendering 103 points to Georgetown on Saturday: "That was not one of our better performances."

5. West Virginia (90)

Comment: Lost amid the hubbub over West Virginia's misbehaving fans is that the basketball team has quietly emerged as a Final Four contender. 

6. Purdue (87)

Comment: That whooshing sound you heard last week was Boilers fans sighing with relief at finally beating Indiana at Assembly Hall for the first time since 2000. 

7. Georgetown (80)

Comment: What better way to bounce back from a disappointing home loss to South Florida than to hand Villanova its first Big East loss.

8. Michigan State (65)

Comment: It was certainly excusable to lose at Wisconsin and Illinois, but the Spartans' cushion in the Big Ten race has disappeared as a result.

9. Kansas State (63)

Comment: Road wins at Nebraska and Iowa State were the type of games previous Kansas State teams would have found a way to split instead of sweep. 

10. Duke (62)

Comment: Duke shouldn't have to get excited about winning at Boston College by three, but a road win, any road win, is cause for celebration these days in Durham.

11. Wisconsin (42)

Comment: Don't let all the Kalin Lucas injury talk overshadow what Wisconsin accomplished last week: The Badgers had Michigan State beat anyway. 

12. Ohio State (36)

Comment: Quietly, Brandon Roy-clone Evan Turner continues to gain ground on John Wall in what should be a fun player of the year race. 

13. Tennessee (32)

Comment: A 26-point win over South Carolina and the reinstatement of center Brian Williams made for a good weekend for the Vols.

14. Texas (18)

Comment: It's a testament to how good Texas was early in the season that the 'Horns are still ranked even after losing four of six. 

15. Gonzaga (15)

Comment: Memphis may be down this season, but that was still a heck of a win on Saturday for the Zags going cross-country on short rest to beat the Tigers.

16. BYU (14)

Comment: Let's see how the Cougars respond to getting blitzed at UNLV on Saturday, a loss that created a three-way tie atop the Mountain West. 

Others receiving votes: New Mexico (6), Butler (5), Temple (4), UNLV (2), Wake Forest (2), Northern Iowa (1)

Voters:

Jeff Eisenberg, Chris Chase and Matt Norlander, The Dagger

Zach Hayes, Rush The Court

Scott Procious, NBE Basketball Report

Gary Moore, The College Hardwood

Chris Kulenych & Craig Gately, Bracketology 101

Rob Dauster, Ballin' is a Habit

Pull up a chair and sit down at the breakfast buffet, a daily assortment of all the freshest newsworthy college hoops stories on the net. To make a submission, contact me via email or twitter.

• Tonight's matchup between Kansas and Texas was supposed to be a showcase of two of the nation's premier teams, but the free-falling Longhorns haven't held up their end in recent weeks. Either Texas rebounds from its four losses in six games and serves notice that it's worthy of its midseason hype, or the Longhorns tumble toward this prediction that they'll be a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament. 

• Kansas big man Cole Aldrich is starting to show why he may be a lottery pick in this year's NBA draft, an uptick he attributes to the relief and release he felt after his cancer-stricken grandmother passed away peacefully last month. In his past four games, Aldrich has averaged 16.3 points, 13 rebounds and 4.5 blocks a game.

• Good news for Jay Wright's Villanova Wildcats: They only have to wait a few more hours to get back on the court and atone for a brutal performance against Georgetown on Saturday. Bad news: Their opponent is surging West Virginia, whose infamous home crowd will surely be ready to welcome the Wildcats in what's likely to be the second ever matchup between a top-five Mountaineers team and a top-five opponent. 

• North Carolina coach Roy Williams opened up to Yahoo's Jason King about his disappointment with his team's midseason crash, admitting, "I haven't done a good job with this team." Frustrated that he can't seem to get the Tar Heels to play with the effort level of his previous teams, Williams added, "This year has shaken my confidence a little. You start questioning your own worth to a team. You start wondering about your ability."

• Notre Dame took another step toward an NCAA tournament berth by holding off South Florida on Sunday, but here's a glass-half-full outlook for the Bulls. Leading scorer Dominique Jones shot just 3 of 17, second-leading scorer Gus Gilchrist sat out with an injury and still South Florida had a look at a game-tying three at the buzzer on the road against a upper-half Big East team.

• Intriguing matchup tonight in Pittsburgh, where NEC-leading Robert Morris throws its nine-game win streak at the No. 22 Panthers. Pitt has won all 27 meetings between the schools including the past nine by an average of 24 points, but the Panthers insist this Robert Morris team has their respect. "They're an NCAA tournament team," Pitt's Jermaine Dixon said. "They're in Pittsburgh, so they're going to play us hard."

• It feels like an awfully long time ago that Cincinnati upset Vanderbilt and Maryland in Maui before pushing Gonzaga to the wire, doesn't it? Syracuse swatted away the Bearcats' upset bid on Sunday despite getting virtually nothing from a foul-plagued, still-injured Wesley Johnson, leaving Cincinnati (14-9, 5-6) desperate for some big wins down the stretch to avoid falling off the bubble. 

• Some of you took exception to my comment that the middle of the Big Ten was pretty mediocre, and your teams made me look foolish this weekend. After Minnesota avoided disaster at Penn State and Illinois took a huge step toward an NCAA berth with a win over Michigan State on Saturday, Northwestern continued to feast on the cushy portion of its schedule on Sunday with a convincing win over Indiana. 

• John Wall certainly can't be counted out in the player of the year race, but Ohio State's Evan Turner is going to make him earn it. Turner matched his career high of 32 points and added 7 boards, 5 assists and 4 steals in a victory over Iowa on Sunday, all despite a severe lack of sleep as a result of staying up late to watch Illinois-Michigan State and then rising before 8 a.m. for an early Super Bowl tip-off. 

Instead of playing in front of a mostly empty arena as a result of the blizzard that has rocked the Beltway region this weekend, Maryland invited its on-campus students to Sunday's victory over North Carolina for free.

Almost 3,000 ticketless students took advantage, creating a sea of red so loud and boisterous that it begs two questions: One, exactly how much liquor did they consume on the way to the arena, and two, would the Terps be better off with this crowd every week?

They roared at every slick pass or highlight slam Maryland made. They serenaded North Carolina with chants of "NIT" in the second half. They even did the wave during a timeout late in the game.  

"If they had to take a dog sled, they were coming to the game," Terps coach Gary Williams told Maryland's student paper, The Diamondback. "That's a great feeling."

The atmosphere was a pleasant surprise to Williams because he expected the worst after Maryland sent out multiple notices to its season-ticket holders warning them to use extreme caution braving the snowy roads to come to the game. 

Any hardy fans who did make the journey to the game were rewarded with a victory that sent Maryland closer to the top of the ACC standings and North Carolina closer to the bottom. 

The Terps (16-6, 6-2) failed to achieve a single marquee victory in non-conference play, but they've now won six of seven to pull within a half game of Duke for the ACC lead.

The Comcast Center felt like the early 2000s again on Sunday, from the level of play from the Terps to the level of noise from the stands.

"Loudest I've ever seen it since I was here," senior Greivis Vasquez told the Baltimore Sun after the game.

Rivals Murray State and Austin Peay regularly produce overtime games, back-and-forth classics and buzzer-beating finishes, but a matchup between the OVC powers has never been decided by a smaller margin than Saturday's 65-63 Racers victory.

Take a look at this YouTube clip of this game-winning jumper from Murray State's Isacc Miles and see if you can tell whether it beat the final buzzer. The final possession begins at the 2:20 mark of the video and the clearest replay of Miles' shot comes at 4:09.

Austin Peay had just tied the score on a pair of free throws from John Fraley with 4.1 seconds left when Miles took the inbound pass, dribbled as fast as he could down court and pulled up inside the three-point line to the left of the top of the key.

As Miles' Murray State teammates mobbed him in front of their bench, referees briefly reviewed video of the shot before ruling that it should count. Austin Peay coach Dave Loos got nose-to-nose with referees in hopes of getting them to overturn the call, but to no avail.

"One of the assistant coaches saw it and thought it was still in his hands, but that's not what they ruled," Loos told the The Leaf-Chronicle.

Said Murray State coach Bill Kennedy, "I thought it was good."

Thanks to Miles' shot, Murray State improved to 22-3 on the season, remained undefeated in league play and completed a season sweep of Austin Peay. The Governors (14-11, 8-5) had a four-game win streak snapped, but could get another shot at the Racers in the OVC tournament title game.

In the waning moments of their team's 62-42 victory over Oregon on Saturday night, Oregon State students found a way to further salt the wounds of their in-state rivals.

They serenaded the Ducks with chants of "Goodbye Ernie," a coldhearted nod to the very tenuous job security of longtime Oregon coach Ernie Kent.

Kent has two Elite Eight appearances, five NCAA tournament berths and the most wins of any coach in Oregon history in his 13 seasons, but losses like Saturday's listless 20-point wipeout are the sort that earn a coach his pink slip. The Ducks (12-10, 4-6) were swept by Oregon State this year for the first time since the 1992-93 season, further evidence of the erosion of an Oregon program that has produced a winning Pac-10 record just once in the past six years. 

When Kent's Ducks went 2-16 in conference play last season, many assumed that would mark the end of the guy dubbed "No Tourney Ernie" by his harshest critics. Instead Kent saved his job last offseason by adhering to his administration's suggestion that he add former Arizona coach-in-waiting Mike Dunlap to his staff at a hefty $400,000 a year pricetag.

Plenty of signs exist that Kent won't be so fortunate this offseason. Empty seats abound in the final season of Mac Court, the athletic director says progress hasn't been "significant" and one fan burnt his season tickets in mid-January rather than have to endure the rest of the season.

The complaints about Kent earlier in his career were that his teams underachieved, only making one NCAA tournament with the likes of Aaron Brooks, Malik Hairston, Maarty Leunen on the roster. Right now, it's not so much that he's underachieving but rather not replenishing the roster with talent.

Rivals.com ranked Oregon's recruiting class last in the Pac-10 for 2010 and seventh in 2009. The Ducks' recruiting pipeline to the midwest has dried up, they failed to land in-state blue chippers Kevin Love and Kyle Singler and the only elite prospect they've signed in recent years, center Michael Dunigan, has been slow to live up to expectations.

With a new arena set to open next year, Oregonian columnist John Canzano wrote that the Ducks couldn't afford to bring Kent back again unless this season results in an NCAA tournament berth. 

A 4-6 record in the weakest Pac-10 in recent memory isn't getting it done, so we'll see if the Oregon administration holds Kent to the same standard.

Pull up a chair and sit down at the breakfast buffet, a daily assortment of all the freshest newsworthy college hoops stories on the net. To make a submission, contact me via email or twitter.

• Memphis appeared to be making a late postseason push with its win over UAB earlier this week, but the Tigers couldn't follow that up with a much-needed win over Gonzaga on Saturday. Now at 16-6 and without a marquee non-conference victory, it will be a struggle for Memphis to return to the NCAA tournament without securing an automatic bid.

• New Mexico needed overtime but turned aside San Diego State's upset bid, which likely solidifies the Mountain West's postseason picture. Coupled with UNLV's one-sided thrashing of BYU and the league looks like a shoo-in for three NCAA bids but a longshot for four. The league title race, however, is up for grabs with the top three all tied for first place. 

• The absence of star Kalin Lucas was too much for Michigan State to overcome as the Spartans dropped a second straight Big Ten game to Illinois, tightening the conference race considerably. Michigan State, which led by three games a week ago, now only holds a one-game edge over the Illini and Wisconsin, with Purdue and Ohio State 1 1/2 back. 

• More than 10,000 hardy fans braved two feet of snow in the D.C region on Saturday to watch Georgetown atone for its loss to South Florida by clobbering third-ranked Villanova. The Wildcats looked unprepared to play in the first half and Georgetown pounced, building a 23-point lead just before halftime and never letting it dwindle to single digits in the second half. 

• It's conceivable that the Atlantic 10 would have a chance at six NCAA bids if the season ended today after Richmond dismantled Temple and Dayton took apart Xavier. It was an especially huge win for the Flyers, who may be the most talented team in the league yet were on the verge of slipping to 4-4 in conference play with a loss.

• Connecticut snapped a three-game losing streak and took a small step toward rejoining the bubble mix by avoiding a disastrous, season-crushing loss against last-place DePaul. It was a "pure dentist game," according to associate head coach George Blaney, whose Huskies trailed by eight in the first half and by one with five minutes to go.  

• The boxscore from West Virginia's 79-60 victory over St. John's wouldn't raise an eyebrow, but those watching the game know that this was as bizarre a turnaround as you'll find. The Mountaineers finished on a 57-22 run after trailing by 16 three minutes into the second half of a classic trap game sandwiched between Pittsburgh and Villanova on the schedule.

• Virginia's stunning second-half turnaround hit a pothole on Saturday when the Cavs fell in overtime to Wake Forest. The non-conference season didn't produce many marquee wins for Virginia (14-7, 5-3), so the Cavs may need to do more than their ACC brethren in conference play to return to the dance. 

• As would-be Pac-10 title contenders collapsed all around them, Cal regained first place by itself with its most lopsided win at UCLA since the days of Jason Kidd and Lamond Murray. How do the Bruins explain a 14-point first-half lead somehow turning into a seven-point deficit by halftime? Simple. "We're not as good as these guys," senior Mike Roll said.

• The murky middle of the SEC is tough to decipher, but Florida is starting to emerge from that pack and join the likes of Kentucky and Tennessee at the top. The Gators achieved further separation with a gritty win over Mississippi State, their sixth victory in their past seven tries.

• A matchup with second-place Iona was supposed to provide a challenge to streaking Siena, but the Saints coasted to their nation-best 14th consecutive victory. Siena can wrap up the MAAC regular season title and top seed in the conference tournament on Monday with a win over Fairfield. 

So rarely does a mid-major league flirt with the possibility of sending four teams to the NCAA tournament.

Is it possible the Atlantic 10 could send six? On two occasions the conference has sent five through to the tournament: in 1997 and 1998. Can that be repeated?

That's a broad question to which the answers will become more clear in the next three weeks, but at the very least you can count on this league sending three teams dancing. That's a terrific thing.

Every single result that needed to happen into help the A10's case for mulitiple bids came to fruition Saturday. That almost never happens for a mid-major league seeking to play to its strengths. Let's break down each game of consequence and see where it puts each team in the here and now.

Is it possible the team with the best record in conference would be the one left out right now? And can you even guess which team that is? It's not Temple. It's not Dayton. It's not Xavier. 

It's Charlotte. 

Charlotte 77, Fordham 72. This was almost bad. We're talking one-month-old milk kind of bad. Fordham has just two wins this season and was beating Charlotte with less than five minutes remaining. If Charlotte hadn't won, they'd be out of the discussion. The Fordham Rams beating you would be a kind of stench that a skunk couldn't stand.

If it wasn't for the seven-game winning streak, the 49ers wouldn't be at 8-1 and leading the conference race. The best non-con win is Louisville. Eh. Unfortunately, this team can't afford to dip below a second-best record in the conference or else it risks NIT affiliation. But they're good ... for now.

Richmond 71, No. 17 Temple 54. Richmond shot 58 percent from the floor and handled the Owls unlike anyone had before in this regular season. Kevin Anderson 29 points. I have no shame admitting it: I wouldn't recognize Kevin Anderson if he showed up at my house with his jersey on. Temple's got nothing to worry about in the time being; the Owls have a strong strenght of schedule, good wins out of conference over Villanova, Siena and Virginia Tech. Plus, the may not even fall out of the rankings because of this loss. 

Richmond really benefits here because they only stay one game behind of the 49ers in the loss column and don't hurt their low KenPom and RPI numbers. Ole Miss, Missouri and Florida are banner Richmond wins, but it has to avoid damaging A10 losses from bottom-feeders for the rest of the season. 

Dayton 90, Xavier 65. The schools are only a sitcom length's car ride from each other, you know. The Flyers made little work of the Musketeers yesterday to the point where I think it was one of the five most impressive performances I've seen from any team this season — given the circumstances head coach Brian Gregory's team was in. As close to a do-or-die game as you can have in early February. Xavier is not typical dragon-slayer Xavier, but it's good.

Dayton made it look JV-level Saturday.

The Flyers and X don't have a lot outside of the conference. After yesterday, Dayton's still only 5-3 inside of it; Xavier is 8-2 in the league, but I'd probably have them at No. 4, just barely ahead of Charlotte due to a slightly better SOS. I'd put Dayton at No. 6 overall in pecking order. The A10 needed a definitive Flyers win and it got it.

Rhode Island 93, Massachusetts 85. The Rams are 19-3 and find themselves in unfamiliar territory. Boston College, Oklahoma State and Providence lay in their wake. Not the strongest victim list, but still worthwhile. In previous seasons, URI started out strongly but quickly did its best Charlie Brown interpretation by slipping up one too many times. No longer. 

For example, Akeem Richmond scored 19 points and Lamonte Ulmer had 17 for Jim Baron's club. They're not the team's two best players. I caught Rhode Island at the beginning of January and these guys were loose, unapologetic for their apathy toward Top 25 rankings (they really don't care about that at all) and didn't want to talk about what was "different" this year.

If there's one team from this conference that I think wouldn't be rattled by the bright lights of March, it's this one.

Matt Norlander is the editor of College Hoops Journal. You can e-mail him at editor@collegehoopsjournal.com and follow him on Twitter.

There's a school of thought that Rick Barnes has the best job in college basketball because Texas is a big-time program that's easy to recruit to, yet football comes first so fans aren't quick to criticize if the hoops program falls shy of expectations.

Can we all agree that the next few days should be a great litmus test for that theory?

An 80-71 loss at rival Oklahoma on Saturday marked Texas' fourth loss in six games since a 17-0 start catapulted the Longhorns to the top spot in the polls for the first time in program history. It certainly won't get any easier either for Texas, with top-ranked Kansas looming on Monday.

What's most shocking about the Longhorns' recent struggles is how suddenly they've seemingly fallen off the cliff. A month ago we were hailing Texas (19-4, 5-3) as a Final Four favorite after convincing wins over Pittsburgh, North Carolina and Michigan State, and now we're wondering if the Longhorns are even one of the four best teams in their own league

It's easy to diagnose the problems that have haunted Texas the past few weeks:

1. Thinning center Dexter Pittman's production has been shrinking faster than his waistline, from 14.6 points and 7.1 rebounds in the non-conference season to half those numbers in conference play.

2. Touted freshman Avery Bradley showed flashes of being in the same class as John Wall in the early season, but he'd been unspectacular in recent weeks before scoring 21 against the Sooners.

3. Texas shoots a woeful 62.1 percent from the foul line as a team, a problem that has been exposed as the Longhorns have played more close games in conference play.

Texas did whittle a 19-point deficit to two against Oklahoma, but free throws and missed layups were the primary culprits again for the loss.

The Longhorns shot just 10 of 27 from the foul line, highlighted by an anemic 4 of 13 performance from star Damion James, who was serenaded with chants of "traitor" from Sooners fans still bitter that he backed out of a commitment to Oklahoma four years ago and chose Texas instead.

"I have to truly believe that there are junior high school teams that can do better than that. And you know what? I'm not so sure there's not some other teams at a lower level than that," Barnes told reporters after the game. "Is it frustrating? It's frustrating because it's been the same every game this year that we've lost. Missed rim shots and free throws. That's been the common theme in our losses."

Barnes clearly took the loss hard, but he can take solace that Texas fans can be cheered up with five simple words: At least it wasn't football.