The St. John's Red Storm are back on the national college basketball radar. Absent from the top 25 rankings for a decade, St. John's is No. 25 in this week's ESPN/USa Today Coaches Poll.
Coming off a victory over No. 4 Pittsburgh, St. John's (17-9, 9-5 Big East) has now defeated Pitt, Duke, Notre Dame, No. 15 Connecticut and No. 11 Georgetown this season. The Red Storm earned 73 points in the latest poll, 18 points ahead of No. 26 George Mason.
The Big East, as always, is still well-represented in the rankings.
Pittsburgh (24-3) is No. 6, Notre Dame (21-5) is No. 9, Georgetown (21-6) is No. 11, Villanova (21-6) is No. 14, Connecticut (20-6) is 15th, Louisville (20-7) is 16th and Syracuse (22-6) is No. 20.
With the top four teams in last week's poll -- Kansas, Ohio State, Pittsburgh and Texas -- all losing there was a shakeup at the top of this week's poll. This week's top 5 are:
- Duke
- Kansas
- Ohio State
- San Diego State
- Texas