St. John's basketball ranked in AP Top-25 for first time since 2019

Being ranked inside the Associated Press Top-25 is nothing new for Rick Pitino, his teams have received national attention hundreds of times, but it is fairly foreign to the St. John's basketball program as a whole.

The Red Storm (2-0) were voted at No. 22 in the nation by the voters of the AP Poll on Monday. It's the first time since 2019 that the Johnnies have been ranked nationally, ironically the last time it made the NCAA Tournament, and it's the program's highest ranking since 2014 when it was No. 15.

There are three other Big East teams in the poll; No. 3 UConn, No. 14 Creighton, and No. 15 Marquette.

St. John's was never ranked during Mike Anderson's tenure and failed to be ranked during Pitino's first season.

The Johnnies did receive votes to be included in the preseason Top-25, but found themselves just on the outside looking in. However, its blowout victories over Fordham and Quinnipiac to begin the season, coupled with losses from teams at the bottom of the initial poll, were good enough to get a number next to its name this week.

St. John's had not been ranked prior to Thanksgiving since 2000.

The schedule will get much more difficult after Wednesday's tilt against Wagner as New Mexico, led by head coach Richard Pitino, will play the Johnnies inside Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon. The Lobos, who received votes to be included in this week's poll, are coming off of a victory over then No. 22 UCLA.

St. John's will then travel to the Bahamas to play No. 12 Baylor on Thursday, November 21 which will be followed by a matchup on Friday against either No. 11 Tennessee or Virginia. The Red Storm will play Georgia on Sunday, November 24 before returning to New York.