St. John's Slides Down Rankings Post-Vegas Tourney

 

St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino. Photo by Jason Schott.

The St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team began the season at No. 5 in the national rankings, and after a 4-3 start to the season, they have taken a bit of a slide.

In last week's Players Era Festival, St. John's, then at No. 14, lost the opening game to then-No. 15 Iowa State, 83-82, on Monday afternoon.

The next day, the Red Storm took care of unranked Baylor, 96-81, before falling to then-No. 21 Auburn, 85-74, on Wednesday night.

On Monday, St. John's came in at No. 23 the AP Top 25, plunging nine spots, the biggest drop among teams still in the poll, and No. 22 in the USA Today Sports Coaches Poll, a slide of seven spots.

AP TOP 25 MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL POLL (released December 1):

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

1. Purdue - 7-0 - 1494 - 40

2. Arizona - 7-0 - 1442 - 6

3. Michigan - 7-0 - 1417 - 15

4. Duke - 8-0 - 1355 

5. UConn - 6-1 - 1244

6. Louisville - 7-0 - 1177 

7. Michigan State - 7-0 - 1095

8. Houston - 7-1 - 1085 

9. BYU - 6-1 - 1036

10. Iowa State - 7-0 - 975

11. Gonzaga - 7-1 - 934

12. Alabama - 5-2 - 868

13. Tennessee - 7-1 - 771

14. Illinois - 6-2 - 656

15. Florida - 5-2 - 567

16. North Carolina - 6-1 - 518

17. Vanderbilt - 8-0 - 474

18. Kentucky - 5-2 - 451

19. Texas Tech - 6-2 - 386

20. Auburn - 6-2 - 375

21. Kansas - 6-2 - 339

22. Indiana - 7-0 - 312

23. St. John's - 4-3 - 200

24. USC - 7-0 - 144

25. Arkansas - 5-2 - 127

RECEIVED VOTES: Iowa (99), UCLA (59), Nebraska (52), TCU (35), Missouri (28), Utah St. (16), Saint Mary's (15), Baylor (13), Oklahoma St. (12), SMU (12), Clemson (10), LSU (7), Seton Hall (6), Wisconsin (6), NC State (5), Wake Forest (3), California (2), Colorado (1), George Mason (1), Buffalo (1).

USA TODAY SPORTS COACHES POLL (released December 1):

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

1. Purdue 7-0 - 762 - 21

2. Michigan - 7-0 - 721 - 6

3. Arizona - 7-0 - 709 - 3 

4. Duke - 8-0 - 696 - 1

5. UConn - 6-1 - 608

6. Louisville - 7-0 - 600

7. Houston - 7-1 - 588

8. Michigan State - 7-0 - 531

9. Iowa State - 7-0 - 502

10. BYU - 6-1 - 493

11. Gonzaga - 7-1 - 480

12. Alabama - 5-2 - 428

13. Tennessee - 7-1 - 377

14. Florida - 5-2 - 313

15. Illinois - 6-2 - 312

16. Vanderbilt - 8-0  - 268

17. North Carolina - 6-1  - 230

18. Kentucky - 5-2  - 222

19. Texas Tech - 6-2 - 192

19. Indiana - 7-0 - 192

21. Kansas - 6-2 - 154

22. St. John's - 4-3 - 129

23. Arkansas - 5-2 - 119

24. Auburn - 6-2 - 104

25. Iowa - 7-0 - 69

Schools Dropped Out: No. 19 UCLA & No. 22 North Carolina State

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: USC (56), UCLA (33), Nebraska (31), Missouri (28), Saint Mary's (20), Baylor (19), North Carolina State (16), Virginia (14), LSU (14), Clemson (9), Butler (9), Ole Miss (8), TCU (5), Wisconsin (4), Utah State (4), SMU (4), Oklahoma State (1), Colorado (1).