The St. John’s surge continues.
Rick Pitino’s red-hot Red Storm moved up to No. 6 in this week’s AP Poll — their highest ranking since Jan. 29, 1991.
St. John’s went 2-0 last week, including a 71-61 victory over Seton Hall on Saturday that clinched the program’s first outright Big East regular-season championship since 1985.
The Johnnies improved to 26-4, including 17-2 in conference play, in their second season under Pitino.
“We’re doing great things right now,” Pitino said Saturday. “We’re not going to embrace it, certainly, but we are going to enjoy it.”
St. John’s moved up one spot from No. 7, switching places with Alabama, which lost Saturday to Tennessee.
Auburn remained No. 1, Duke stayed at No. 2, and Houston, Tennessee and Florida rounded out the top five.
This is the fourth poll in a row in which St. John’s earned a top-10 ranking. Before last month, St. John’s had gone 25 years without being ranked in the top 10.
It’s the seventh week in a row that St. John’s earned a national ranking.
“This is an answer to a prayer,” St. John’s president Rev. Brian J. Shanley said Saturday. “This is what I hoped when we hired Rick, that we would get back to where we are right now, contending for a national championship. This is just the beginning.”
St. John’s is set to wrap up the regular season this Saturday at No. 20 Marquette.
Pitino’s team will then be the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament, which is set to take place March 12-15 at Madison Square Garden.
