Super Six: St. John's Moves Up Nationally After Clinching Big East

 

The celebration on Saturday when St. John's clinched the Big East. Photo by Jason Schott.

The St. John's Red Storm, the Big East Regular Season Champions, moved up to No. 6 in both the Associated Press poll, and the USA Today Coaches' poll on Monday.

St. John's is now 26-4 on the season, including 17-2 in Big East play. They clinched the conference on Saturday with a 71-61 victory over Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden.

It is their highest ranking in the AP poll since it was No. 5 on January 29, 1991, during the 1990-91 season. They have been ranked inside the Top 10 in the poll for four straight weeks, the longest duration since the seven weeks from December 25, 1990 through February 5, 1991.

St. John's has now been in the national rankings for seven straight weeks, the longest stretch since the 1998-99 team was in it for 16 weeks. 

In the USA Today Poll, St. John's has been in the Top 10 for the past five weeks.

The only other Big East team in the Top 25 is Marquette, which came in at No. 20 in both the AP poll and USA Today Coaches' Poll. 

AP TOP 25 MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL POLL (released March 3):

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

1. Auburn - 27-2 - 1525 - 61

2. Duke - 26-3 - 1458

3. Houston  - 25-4 - 1396

4. Tennessee - 24-5 - 1326

5. Florida  - 25-4 - 1247

6. St. John's - 26-4 - 1179

7. Alabama - 23-6 - 1176

8. Michigan State - 24-5 - 1165

9. Texas Tech - 22-7 - 947

10. Iowa State - 22-7 - 918

11. Clemson - 24-5 - 905

12. Wisconsin - 22-7 - 815

13. Maryland - 22-7 - 628

14. Louisville - 23-6 - 606

15. Missouri - 21-8 - 603

16. Memphis - 24-5 - 560

17. Michigan - 22-7 - 494

18. Purdue - 20-9 - 454

19. Kentucky - 19-10 - 417

20. Marquette - 22-7 - 409

21. Saint Mary's - 27-4 - 399

22. Texas A&M - 20-9 - 364

23. BYU - 21-8 - 287

24. Arizona - 19-10 - 162

25. Mississippi State - 20-9 - 87

RECEIVED VOTES: VCU (85), Vanderbilt (78), Oregon (37), Drake (18), UC San Diego (17), Illinois (16), Mississippi (13), UCLA (8), Gonzaga (8), Kansas (5), High Point (4), UConn (4), New Mexico (2), Creighton (2), Akron (1). 

USA TODAY SPORTS COACHES POLL (released March 3):

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

1. Auburn - 27-2 - 774 - 30

2. Duke - 26-3 - 737 - 1

3. Houston - 25-4 - 707

4. Tennessee - 24-5 - 671

5. Florida - 25-4 - 653

6. St. John's - 26-4 - 612

7. Michigan State - 24-5 - 587

8. Alabama - 23-6 - 566

9. Texas Tech - 22-7 - 504

10. Iowa State - 22-7 - 484

11. Clemson - 24-5 - 442

12. Wisconsin - 22-7 - 391

13. Louisville - 23-6 - 365

14. Maryland - 22-7 - 341

15. Michigan - 22-7 - 288

16. Memphis - 24-5 - 272

17. Saint Mary's - 27-4 - 262

18. Purdue - 20-9 - 257

19. Missouri - 21-8 - 236

20. Marquette - 22-7 - 204

21. Texas A&M - 20-9 - 169

22. BYU - 21-8 - 127

23. Arizona - 19-10 - 91

24. Kentucky - 19-10 - 88

25. VCU - 24-5 - 54

SCHOOLS DROPPED OUT: No. 24 Mississippi State; No. 25 Creighton  

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Mississippi State (38), New Mexico (24), Creighton (24), UC San Diego (21), Vanderbilt (17), Gonzaga (17), Oregon (14), UConn (10), Drake (10), UCLA (9), Illinois (6), Ole Miss (2), Boise State (1).