AP Top 25 - Getting and Staying Ranked

[adoraz]

Slightly better on the coaches poll:

1 Nova
8 Xavier
22 Seton Hall
24 Creighton

4 teams is great, but I'd like to see a team or two in the also receiving votes section.

SJU, with an RPI of 22 and a 9-2 record, would make the rankings with a ranked win (although that's still 3 games away and would need to win 3 straight). Butler, Providence and Marquette have 3 losses and could break into the Top 25 with a top win or two. Really only DePaul and Georgetown aren't in a solid position right now.

So, if SJU, Providence, Butler or Marquette can make some noise during conference play, they'll get ranked. Obviously though, it could be at another team's expense.

Maintaining 4 ranked teams throughout the year (whoever they are) would be a huge accomplishment and something we haven't done before. As it stands though, I think 3 ranked teams will be more likely than 5 two months from now.

[adoraz]

Thanks to Creighton making the rankings, SJU has an upcoming stretch where 8/12 games will be vs ranked opponents, starting the second game of BE play. That also includes an 8 game stretch with FIVE top 10 match ups.

Vs Providence
@ #23 SHU
@ #25 Creighton
Vs DePaul
Vs Georgetown
Vs #1 Nova
@ #9 Xavier
@ Georgetown
Vs #25 Creighton
@ Butler
Vs #9 Xavier
Vs #4 Duke
@ #1 Nova

Would be great exposure if we can win a few of these.

[sju88grad]

Thanks to Creighton making the rankings, SJU has an upcoming stretch where 8/12 games will be vs ranked opponents, starting the second game of BE play. That also includes an 8 game stretch with FIVE top 10 match ups.

Vs Providence
@ #23 SHU
@ #25 Creighton
Vs DePaul
Vs Georgetown
Vs #1 Nova
@ #9 Xavier
@ Georgetown
Vs #25 Creighton
@ Butler
Vs #9 Xavier
Vs #4 Duke
@ #1 Nova

Would be great exposure if we can win a few of these.

That 3 game stretch of home to Xavier, home to Duke and at Villanova is insane.....I would be beyond ecstatic if we won 1 of those games....

[stever20]

Thanks to Creighton making the rankings, SJU has an upcoming stretch where 8/12 games will be vs ranked opponents, starting the second game of BE play. That also includes an 8 game stretch with FIVE top 10 match ups.

Vs Providence
@ #23 SHU
@ #25 Creighton
Vs DePaul
Vs Georgetown
Vs #1 Nova
@ #9 Xavier
@ Georgetown
Vs #25 Creighton
@ Butler
Vs #9 Xavier
Vs #4 Duke
@ #1 Nova

Would be great exposure if we can win a few of these.

What's so funny about it is that the game before the 8/12 stretch might be the most important one of those 13 games. Just looking at KP- the only conference games St John's are favored to win more than that game are the 2 home ones with DePaul and Georgetown. And that shows how big those 3 really are- if they lose even one of those 3 and drop the expected to road games at Seton Hall and Creighton- St John's goes really behind the 8 ball.

[NJRedman]

Thanks to Creighton making the rankings, SJU has an upcoming stretch where 8/12 games will be vs ranked opponents, starting the second game of BE play. That also includes an 8 game stretch with FIVE top 10 match ups.

Vs Providence
@ #23 SHU
@ #25 Creighton
Vs DePaul
Vs Georgetown
Vs #1 Nova
@ #9 Xavier
@ Georgetown
Vs #25 Creighton
@ Butler
Vs #9 Xavier
Vs #4 Duke
@ #1 Nova

Would be great exposure if we can win a few of these.

What's so funny about it is that the game before the 8/12 stretch might be the most important one of those 13 games. Just looking at KP- the only conference games St John's are favored to win more than that game are the 2 home ones with DePaul and Georgetown. And that shows how big those 3 really are- if they lose even one of those 3 and drop the expected to road games at Seton Hall and Creighton- St John's goes really behind the 8 ball.

So losing on the road to ranked teams is a bad thing that hurts resumes?

[stever20]

no, but if you lose one of your 3 easiest games of the conference year- it does put you square behind the 8 ball.

[Omaha1]

Glad that CU snuck back into the rankings. Sitting at #25 now means they should be ranked when conference play starts and that's good news for the conference.

[NJRedman]

no, but if you lose one of your 3 easiest games of the conference year- it does put you square behind the 8 ball.

And who is that? We already played our 3 easiest games and won. St. Joe's isn't one of our 3 easiest games and neither is PC.

[stever20]

no, but if you lose one of your 3 easiest games of the conference year- it does put you square behind the 8 ball.

And who is that? We already played our 3 easiest games and won. St. Joe's isn't one of our 3 easiest games and neither is PC.

It's one of the 3 easiest CONFERENCE games(or at least 4, if you want to include the home one with Marquette). Those are ones that you absolutely have to have.

[MullinMayhem]

Congrats to Creighton cracking the top 25. I'd love to be in the top 25 but beggars can't be choosers. This season, making the tourney in any capacity would be a big time success for the program and fanbase. If LoVett and Ponds somehow both stay next year (probably unlikely but I can dream) then we get a HUGE boost of size and also get Mikey Dixon, a solid guard to use off the bench and tons of other reinforcements. If that happens I'd expect top 25 level, but I'm not going to get ahead of myself. Must beat St. Joseph's.