St. John’s returns to the AP Top 25 national rankings

On Saturday night, St. John’s climbed into first place in the Big East. On Monday afternoon, they ascended back into the national rankings.

The Red Storm (16-3, 7-1) landed at No. 20 in the AP Top 25 in the poll released Monday, receiving 320 points based on the 62 votes cast. It’s the highest ranking for the program since the 2014-15 season.

St. John’s was ranked No. 22 for two weeks in November, its first appearance in the Top 25 since a one-week stay in 2019. It fell out of the national rankings after losing two of three games in the Bahamas — against Baylor in double overtime and against Georgia.

The Storm is one of three Big East teams in this week’s Top 25, along with No. 10 Marquette, which fell from No. 7 after a loss last week to Xavier, and No. 19 Connecticut, which slipped from No. 14 after losing last week to Creighton.

St. John’s also is No. 25 in the NCAA’s NET rankings, one of the tools used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

St. John’s took over first place in the Big East with last Tuesday’s five-point win over Georgetown at the Garden and Saturday’s 79-51 victory over Seton Hall at Prudential Center.

The Storm will play Xavier at the Garden on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. As of Monday morning, approximately 12,500 tickets had already been sold for the contest, according to school officials.