Monday, February 10, 2025

St. John's Cracks Top 10 In Both National Rankings For First Time In Quarter Century

 

Deivon Smith leading a fast break on Tuesday night against Marquette. Photo by Jason Schott.


The St. John's Red Storm took another big step in the Top 25 rankings on Monday, as they came in at No. 9 in the Associated Press poll, and No. 8 in the USA Today Coaches' poll.

This comes after they knocked off a pair of ranked teams, No. 11 Marquette, on Tuesday night, 70-64, and No. 19 UConn, the two-time defending National Champion, on the road, 68-62.

St. John's is now 21-3 on the season, including 12-1 in Big East play, in sole possession of first place in the conference.

In the AP poll, the Red Storm jumped three spots from last week, and the No, 9 slot is the highest in the poll since the final week off the 1999-2000 season, when St. John's won the Big East Tournament Championship.

In the USA Today poll, St. John's jumped two spots to No. 8, the highest ranking in it since March 31, 1999, when it was No. 5 amidst a run to the Elite Eight.

The only other Big East schools to appear in the polls are Marquette (No. 18 in AP and No. 16 in USA Today), Creighton (No. 24 in AP and 21 in USA Today) UConn (not in AP and No. 24 in USA Today). 

This is the first time in these polls that St. John's, as they should be as leader of the Big East, is the highest-ranked school among the conference's teams in the polls.

BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK: RJ Luis was honored as the Big East Player of the Week for the second time this season (the first was January 13. This past week, Luis had 17 points (6-17 FG, 1-4 three-pointers) and 11 rebounds, with four steals, three assists, and three blocks in Tuesday's win over Marquette; and on Friday night at UConn, he led St. John's with 21 points on 10-21 shooting, with seven rebounds and an assist

AP TOP 25 MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL POLL (released February 10):

RANKING - TEAM - RECORD - POINTS - FIRST-PLACE VOTES:

1. Auburn - 21-2 - 1479 - 34

2. Alabama - 20-3 - 1470 - 23

3. Florida - 20-3 - 1342 - 3

3. Duke - 20-3 - 1342

5. Tennessee - 20-4 - 1315

6. Houston - 19-4 - 1235

7. Purdue - 19-5 - 1142

8. Texas A&M - 18-5 - 1065

9. St. John's - 21-3 - 1058

10. Iowa State - 18-5 - 880

11. Michigan State - 19-4 - 868

12. Texas Tech - 18-5 - 778

13. Arizona - 17-6 - 701

14. Memphis - 20-4 - 676

15. Kentucky - 16-7 - 558

16. Wisconsin - 19-5 - 488

17. Kansas - 16-7 - 469

18. Marquette - 18-6 - 442

19. Ole Miss - 18-6 - 415

20. Michigan - 18-5 - 350

21. Missouri - 17-6 - 333

22. Mississippi State - 17-6 - 292

23. Clemson - 19-5 - 291

24. Creighton - 18-6 - 198

25. Maryland - 18-6 - 196

RECEIVED VOTES: UCLA (123), UConn (106), Illinois (59), Louisville (53), New Mexico (40), Drake (21), Saint Mary's (20),  Utah St. (8), George Mason (7), Gonzaga (5).

USA TODAY SPORTS COACHES POLL (released February 10):

RANKING - TEAM - RECORD - POINTS - FIRST-PLACE VOTES:

1. Alabama - 20-3 - 758 - 15

2. Auburn - 21-2 - 741 - 16

3. Florida - 20-3 - 688

4. Tennessee - 20-4 - 669

5. Duke - 20-3 - 665

6. Houston - 19-4 - 639

7. Purdue  - 19-5 - 575

8. St. John's - 21-3 - 558

9. Texas A&M - 18-5 - 501

10. Iowa State - 18-5 - 482

11. Michigan State - 19-4 - 458

12. Texas Tech - 18-5 - 369

13. Arizona - 17-6 - 367

14. Memphis - 20-4 - 357

15. Wisconsin - 19-5 - 284

16. Marquette - 18-6 - 248

17. Michigan - 18-5 - 241

18. Kentucky - 16-7 - 217

19. Clemson - 19-5 - 196

20. Kansas - 16-7 - 186

21. Creighton - 18-6 - 148

22. Missouri - 17-6 - 142

23. Ole Miss - 18-6 - 127

24. UConn - 16-7 - 96

25. Maryland - 18-6 - 87

SCHOOLS DROPPED OUT: No. 23 Saint Mary's; No. 25 Illinois

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Mississippi State (72), Louisville (57), Saint Mary's (51), UCLA (42), Illinois (19), New Mexico (16),  Gonzaga (7), Oregon (5), VCU (2), Utah State (2), UC San Diego (1), Drake (1), Baylor (1).

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