Following wins over Marquette and Villanova in the last week, St. John’s is on the brink of returning to the top 25. The Red Storm received 64 votes in the Associated Press’s week 11 men’s basketball poll, tied with Wisconsin for the most among unranked teams. Notable poll voters like Jon Rothstein, Dick Vitale, Seth Davis, and Jeff Borzello were among those who ranked the Red Storm in the 20s during this week’s poll.
Directly in front of St. John’s are two of the best mid-major teams in the country. At No. 25 are current MAC frontrunners Miami (OH), who entered the rankings for the first time since 1999 on Monday. Led by former Xavier head coach Travis Steele, the Redhawks are one of the three remaining undefeated teams in the country with a record of 19-0. The next-best team is Saint Louis at No. 24, who also entered the rankings for the first time this season. Former Red Storm guard Brady Dunlap is playing his best ball in recent games for the Billikens, averaging 12.3 points and shooting 56.3% from deep in his last three contests.
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The Red Storm were ranked No. 5 in the preseason poll, but slid out of the rankings after a rocky non-conference showing and have been unranked since the week 8 poll was released on December 22, 2025. They received no votes after their loss to Providence dropped them to a 9-5 record, then they picked up a single vote in last week’s poll after knocking off Butler and Creighton.
UConn moved up to No. 2 and is the only Big East team ranked in this week’s poll. Besides St. John’s, the only other unranked Big East team to receive votes is Villanova, with three votes. Seton Hall dropped out of the poll from No. 24 and claimed no votes after home losses to UConn and Butler in the last week.
With games against Seton Hall on Tuesday, January 20, and at Xavier on Saturday, January 24, St. John’s could become ranked with another perfect week. The Johnnies are on a four-game winning streak that includes three Quad 1 road victories.
