St. John's Moves Up In National Polls, But Not Nearly Enough

 

St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino watched Bryce Hopkins bury a jumper at the other end. Photo by Jason Schott.

The St. John's Red Storm moved up slightly in the national polls, by two spots to No. 15 in the AP poll, and only one to No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

This came after a week in which the Red Storm claimed first place in the Big East with a record of 15-1, winners of 13 straight games, and 22-5 overall. 

They took the top spot in the Big East when Connecticut lost to Creighton at home last Wednesday. The same Creighton that St. John's destroyed to the tune of 81-52 on Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.'

UConn is 25-3 overall, including a 15-2 mark in Big East play, but its the first number that still matters to the these rankings, so they came in at No. 6, a dip of one spot from last week but still nine places ahead of St. John's.

This, to be frank, is insanity, in the sense that St. John's beat Connecticut at Madison Square Garden on February 6, and this past week, they had opposite results when they had a common opponent a few days apart.

St. John's plays at Connecticut this Wednesday night, so that will either confirm these rankings, or if we see another Red Storm victory, next week is when we see a massive change.

AP TOP 25 MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL POLL (released February 23):

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

1. Duke - 25-2 - 1520 - 56

2. Arizona - 25-2 - 1439 - 5

3. Michigan - 25-2 - 1433

4. Iowa State - 23-4 - 1272

5. Houston - 23-4 - 1251

6. UConn - 25-3 - 1211

7. Florida - 21-6 - 1112

8. Purdue - 22-5 - 1062

9. Gonzaga - 27-2 - 1039

10. Illinois - 22-6 - 895

11. Virginia - 24-3 - 884

12. Nebraska - 23-4 - 858

13. Michigan State - 19-6 - 822

14. Kansas - 20-7 - 774

15. St. John's - 22-5 - 763

16. Texas Tech - 20-7 - 592

17. Alabama - 20-7 - 402

18. North Carolina - 21-6 - 388

19. BYU - 20-7 - 361

20. Arkansas - 20-7 - 356

21. Miami (OH) - 27-0 - 335

22. Tennessee - 20-7 - 288

23. Saint Louis - 25-2 - 242

24. Louisville - 20-7 - 186

25. Vanderbilt - 21-6 - 171

RECEIVED VOTES: Wisconsin (47), Saint Mary's (30), Villanova (15), Miami (10), Utah St (8), NC State (7), SMU (4), Texas A&M (3), Iowa (3), UCF (3), High Point (2), Stephen F Austin (2), Navy (1).

USA TODAY SPORTS COACHES POLL (released February 23):

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

1. Duke - 25-2 - 771 - 27

2. Arizona - 25-2 - 733 - 4

3. Michigan - 25-2 - 723

4. Houston - 23-4 - 647

5. Iowa State - 23-4 - 629

6. UConn - 25-3 - 604

7. Florida - 21-6 - 547

8. Purdue - 22-5 - 538

9. Gonzaga - 27-2 - 532

10. Nebraska - 23-4 - 463

11. Illinois - 22-6 - 453

12. Virginia - 24-3  - 449

13. Michigan State - 22-5 - 404

14. Kansas - 20-7 - 373

15. St. John's - 22-5 - 359

16. Texas Tech - 20-7 - 332

17. Arkansas - 20-7 - 235

18. Alabama - 20-7 - 192

19. North Carolina - 21-6 - 166

20. Louisville - 20-7 - 154

21. Vanderbilt - 21-6 - 144

22. Tennessee - 20-7 - 141

23. BYU - 20-7 - 137

24. Saint Louis - 25-2 - 68

25. Miami-OH - 27-0 - 116

Schools Dropped Out: No. 24 Clemson, No. 25 Wisconsin

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Wisconsin (35), Villanova (25), Georgia (18), Utah State (7), Iowa (6), Saint Mary's (5), Miami (FL) - (5), Clemson (1).