There’s a lot that gets made about the preseason Associated Press poll and it’s great for conversations, but none of it matters when the games count for real.
While the rankings are a great barometer for teams as the season gets closer, no one truly knows what these teams will look like once they step on the court and that was proven to be factual after St. John’s fell to Alabama on Saturday afternoon.
Following an entire offseason of hype revolving around its success from last season and revamped roster in the transfer portal, the Johnnies allowed 103 points on its home court to the Crimson Tide in a seven-point loss.
Despite the back-and-forth content, Alabama’s consistency in its backcourt was too much for the new-look Red Storm guards to handle.
The loss saw St. John’s drop from No. 5 to No. 13 in the poll after first week of games meanwhile the Crimson Tide jumped from No. 15 to No. 8.
There was a complete shakeup in the Top 5 after the Red Storm’s departure as Houston took the No. 1 ranking from Purdue, who is followed by UConn, Duke, and Arizona.
Michigan, BYU, Alabama, Kentucky, and Florida complete the Top 10 while Texas Tech and Louisville are slotted ahead of the Johnnies and Illinois and UCLA complete the Top 15.
Creighton is the only other Big East basketball team that is ranked at No. 23.
Even with the disappointing loss, St. John’s superstar Zuby Ejiofor was named as the Big East Player of the week following a 17-point, six rebound, and three assist game in the team’s season opener against Quinnipiac and 27 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals against Alabama.
Ejiofor shot 16-of-22 from the field in the two games and 2-of-3 from 3-point range.
St. John’s (1-1) will have the week off before returning to the court against William & Mary (2-0) on Saturday evening (6:00 p.m. ET, truTV) inside Carnesecca Arena.