St. John's basketball ranking remains unchanged but puts program in uncharted waters

The St. John's basketball team ranking did not change after landing at No. 22 in the Associated Press Top-25 last week but it did create history for the Johnnies despite the lack of movement.

The Red Storm have now been ranked in consecutive weeks for the first time since the 2014-15 season, the last time it made the main draw of the NCAA Tournament, when it was included in the poll for five straight weeks.

It all feels like a good omen for St. John's since the last time the program was even included in the AP Poll was 2018-19, its last tournament appearance.

Rick Pitino's team notched an ugly 21-point victory against Wagner and 14-point triumph over New Mexico last week to remain perfect on the season as the schedule takes a major jump in competition this weekend in the Bahamas.

St. John's will play No. 13 Baylor on Thursday night (7:00 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network) in the Baha Mar Hoops Classic with its matchup on Friday against either No. 11 Tennessee or Virginia. The Johnnies will remain on the islands until Sunday when it faces Georgia in a standalone non-conference game.

It will be the first time that St. John's has played a ranked opponent in its non-conference schedule as a ranked team since January 22, 2000 when the No. 19 Red Storm battled No. 13 Ohio State.

Three other Big East teams were included in the Top-25; No. 2 UConn, No. 14 Creighton, and No. 15 Marquette. The quartet of teams have combined to post a 17-0 record as of Wednesday morning.

If St. John's were to come out of the Bahamas remaining undefeated with a pair of Top-15 victories, the Johnnies could have a case to be included inside the Top-10 of the AP Poll next Monday. For now, they'll continue to strive to play quality basketball on both sides of the court and let the voters cast their ballots.