Battle For New York Hot Takes, Lava Cakes and Expectation Mistakes

For the love of Sam Cassell, sign me up for some St. John’s unrealistic expectations. There is zero sarcasm in that statement. Despite being a person who hates to overreact to one (or even a few) game, and always viewing St. John’s through the most negative light as possible, I can’t help but get caught up in the building hysteria.

Now, please forgive me a minute for regressing back to a negative Nancy Neanderthal. While St. John’s did look like they belonged against a good Gonzaga team they still lost. Syracuse is projected to be an NIT team this season, so, yeah, beating them is still a big deal, but it is not as if the Orange were highly ranked or even that highly thought of.

Okay, whew. I got that out of my system. So, um, where do you guys think St. John’s will be ranked in the polls on Monday? Eight? Nine? Maybe as high as five?

I am (kind of) kidding in all previous statements, but fully expect St. John’s to be getting a lot more pub from everyone and anyone remotely connected with covering college basketball. Some folks are going to (again) start to finger them as a dark horse NCAA Tournament team while others will be more than happy to tell you they are one of the most entertaining teams in the entire country (they actually are, for what it is worth), all of which is fine. But, still, it is also only December.

Steve Lavin’s job might hinge on an NCAA Tournament birth this year. If not that, though, an NCAA Tournament appearance will at least have a positive impact on his so far 2015 class lackluster recruiting job. This has been a great start for St. John’s, with plenty of winnable games come up, but it is still really hard to get too nutty over this team until at least a few Big East Conference games are played.

Nevertheless, let the craziness that is St. John’s related excited expectations that is flowing through your veins at the moment run wild like Hulk Hogan. It has been a long time since the Red Storm had a tangible reason — not just the ability — to feel really good about a college basketball season.

This season feels different, though. This year feels like the year it is okay to let the expectations run rampant. At least now in early December.