The St. John’s basketball team is a lock to make the NCAA Tournament with just four games remaining in the regular season but after not being included in the selection committee’s Top 16 reveal on Saturday, the Johnnies need some enhancements to its resume.
First, the Red Storm must win. It has a guaranteed two Quad 1 games left on its schedule with road trips against No. 6 UConn and Seton Hall and then hope some other teams that it already played can get hot to close the season.
Currently, Rick Pitino’s team has a 3-4 record in Quad 1 games, 8-0 in Quad 2, 8-1 in Quad 3, and 3-0 in Quad 4.
St. John’s can add a third Quad 1 game to its remaining four games if Villanova climbs back up into the Top 30 of the NET rankings after the Wildcats slipped to No. 31 as of Wednesday morning.
The Red Storm will host ‘Nova on Saturday night (8:00 p.m. ET, FOX) inside Madison Square Garden.
Another team bordering on a Quad 1 game for the Johnnies is Baylor, which was the only victory for St. John’s during the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. It has not been a good season for the Bears, but they are barely hanging on as a Quad 1 game at No. 49 in the NET.
Since it was a neutral site game, the Top 50 teams in the NET are considered Quad 1.
Now, comes the hard stuff.
St. John’s is hoping that some other Big East teams are able to close the season strong enough to improve its NET and elevate the Red Storm’s resume, most notably Creighton, Providence, and Butler.
There is clearly bad blood between the Red Storm and Friars but perhaps no team is more important in the final two weeks of the season.
Providence is the lone Quad 3 loss on the sheet for St. John’s, currently sitting at No. 79 in the NET. If the Friars are able to get into the Top 75, not only would the Johnnies add a Quad 1 win with its victory in Rhode Island, but it’s Quad 3 loss would also move to a Quad 2.
Butler, No. 78, and Creighton, No. 83, are also bordering on the cut line of a road Quad 1 game.
It’s a tall ask to have everything go right for St. John’s to boost its resume for March Madness, but if the Johnnies can continue to win and get a couple of breaks it could be looking at a Top-4 seed on Selection Sunday.