Despite a 4-3 start in which they have lost all three of their meetings against ranked opponents, poll voters aren’t leaving St. John’s out of the top 25, yet.
The Johnnies came in at No. 23 in the latest AP top 25 men’s basketball poll released on Monday, tumbling down nine spots from No. 14 after a 1-2 performance in the Players’ Era Festival last week.
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St. John’s are the only team with three or more losses to be ranked in this week’s poll, yet all of their defeats have come against teams ranked 20th or higher. Alabama now sits at No. 12, which they fell against on November 8. Iowa State and Auburn, respectively, moved up to 10th and 20th after their victories over the Red Storm in Las Vegas this week. Their lone victory in Sin City came against Baylor, who received 13 votes in this week’s poll.
UConn are the only other Big East team to be ranked, remaining at No. 5 for a second-straight week despite a 13-point win over a top-15 team in Illinois. Seton Hall received votes for the first time this season after pulling off a stunning upset over then-No. 23 NC State in the Maui Invitational as part of their surprising 7-1 start.
The Red Storm were also ranked 23rd in the NCAA’s first NET rankings released on Monday, coming behind fellow Big East teams UConn at No. 1 and Butler at No. 21. St. John’s still does not have an official Quad 1 win as Baylor debuted at No. 67 and would need to climb into the top-30 for the Red Storm’s 96-81 victory to become a first quadrant game.
St. John’s will have an opportunity to put their disappointing Players’ Era Festival trip behind them when they face the Ole Miss Rebels (5-2) on Saturday, December 7. Tip-off at Madison Square Garden is scheduled for 8 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on Peacock.
