The Red Storm finally stopped its descent through the AP poll and moved up in the rankings for the first time this season on Monday, climbing one spot to No. 22 in the latest AP top 25 men’s basketball poll after their scrappy 63-58 win over Ole Miss this weekend.
St. John’s also moved up a single place to No. 21 in the latest Coaches Poll, which has ranked the Johnnies very consistently with the AP poll on a week-by-week basis this year.
Both UConn and St. John’s remain the only two Big East teams
ranked in this week’s poll, with the Huskies remaining at No. 5 after wins over No. 19 Kansas and East Texas A&M. Seton Hall continued to gain ground among teams receiving votes, earning the sixth-most votes by unranked teams with 31.
Unfortunately for the Johnnies, their December 20 matchup against Kentucky won’t be ranked-on-ranked, at least for now. The Wildcats fell out of the AP poll after their ugly 94-59 loss to No. 8 Gonzaga on Friday night, dropping to 5-4 with zero wins against Quad 1 opponents.
The No. 22 Red Storm will host the Iona Gaels (7-3) in their next matchup on Saturday, December 8 at Madison Square Garden (TNT, 12 p.m.). Rick Pitino, who coached in New Rochelle for three seasons from 2020 to 2023, will take on the Gaels for the first time since he was hired by St. John’s.
