St. John's Returns To National Polls

 

The scene during St. John's game with Seton Hall last Tuesday night. Photo by Jason Schott.

The St. John's Red Storm returned to being a ranked team in both national polls, as they came in at No. 25 in the AP Top 25, and No. 24 in the USA Today Sports Coaches Poll.

St. John's was No. 25 in last week's USA Today Poll, while it was the first team out of the AP Poll, and it now is making its first appearance in that since Week 7, which was released on December 15.

This comes as the Red Storm have won six in a row to give them a 15-5 overall record and an 8-1 mark in Big East Conference play. 

Last Tuesday, St. John's came back from 15 points down to beat Seton Hall, 65-60, at Madison Square Garden. They hit the road and won at Xavier, 88-83, for Head Coach Rick Pitino's 900th career win in college basketball.

The only other Big East school in the Top 25 is Connecticut, who came in at No. 2 in the AP poll and No. 3 in USA Today’s.

AP TOP 25 MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL POLL (released January 26):

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

1. Arizona - 20-0 - 1500 - 60

2. UConn - 19-1 - 1402 

3. Michigan - 18-1 - 1379

4. Duke - 18-1 - 1326 

5. Nebraska - 20-0 - 1283

6. Gonzaga - 21-1 - 1097

7. Michigan State - 18-2 - 1072

8. Iowa State - 18-2 - 1070 

9. Illinois - 17-3 - 1060

10. Houston - 17-2 - 983

11. Texas Tech - 16-4 - 939

12. Purdue - 17-3 - 864

13. BYU - 17-2 - 837

14. Kansas - 15-5 - 614

15. Arkansas - 15-5 - 568

16. North Carolina - 16-4 - 528

17. Virginia - 16-3 - 509

18. Vanderbilt - 17-3 - 497

19. Florida - 14-6 - 389

20. Louisville - 14-5 - 297

21. Saint Louis - 19-1 - 286

22. Clemson - 17-4 - 245

23. Alabama - 13-6 - 202

24. Miami (OH) - 20-0 - 140

25. St. John's - 15-5 - 133

RECEIVED VOTES: Tennessee (88), Kentucky (51), Georgia (49), Iowa (30), Texas A&M (27), Auburn (15), NC State (8), SMU (4), Saint Mary's (3), Utah St. (2), Villanova (2), Wisconsin (1).

USA TODAY SPORTS COACHES POLL (released January 26):

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

1. Arizona - 20-0 - 775 - 31

2. Michigan - 18-1 - 723 

3. UConn - 19-1 - 716

4. Duke - 18-1 - 686

5. Nebraska - 20-0 - 634

6. Gonzaga - 21-1 - 590

7. Houston - 17-2 - 530

8. Michigan State - 18-2 - 526

9. Iowa State - 18-2 - 524

10. Illinois - 17-3 - 520

11. Texas Tech - 16-4  - 485

12. Purdue - 17-3 - 462

13. BYU - 17-2 - 432

14. Kansas - 15-5 - 292

15. Vanderbilt - 17-3 - 287

16. Arkansas - 15-5 - 261

17. Virginia - 16-3  - 230

18. North Carolina - 16-4  - 233

19. Clemson - 17-4 - 200

20. Louisville - 14-5 - 186

21. Florida - 14-6 - 176

22. Saint Louis - 19-1 - 154

23. Alabama - 13-6 - 120

24. St. John's - 15-5 - 95

25. Miami (OH) - 20-0 - 47

25. Iowa - 14-5 - 47

Schools Dropped Out: No. 22 Georgia

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Georgia (33), Tennessee (30), Texas A&M (19), Villanova (15), Saint Mary's (9), SMU (4), Kentucky (3), Utah State (2), Liberty (1).