The Johnnies are ranked again after a near two-month departure from the polls
St. John’s waited more than five years to return to the Associated Press top 25 poll back in November, holding a No. 22 ranking for two weeks before losses to Baylor and Georgia in the Bahamas knocked them out of the top 25.
The Johnnies only needed to wait a little under two months to get a number next to their name again, as they were ranked No. 20 in the latest AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll released on Monday afternoon.
Another 2-0 week by the Red Storm catapulted them back into the polls. Last Tuesday night, the Red Storm won a 63-58 slugfest versus Georgetown, then battered Seton Hall for forty minutes in a 79-51 rout on Saturday night. Those two wins have the Red Storm out to their best start in Big East play through eight games since the 1998-99 season, when they reached the Elite Eight.
The 20th-ranked Red Storm received 320 total votes in this week’s poll, their most this season, and they reached their highest ranking since the 2014-15 season when they peaked at No. 15.
Two other Big East teams join St. John’s in this week’s AP Top 25 poll, with Marquette falling three spots to No. 10 and UConn falling five spots to No. 19 after both teams lost at home on Saturday.
No. 20 St. John’s (16-3, 7-1 Big East) returns to action on Wednesday, January 22, when they face Xavier Musketeers (12-7, 4-4 Big East) at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1.