College Basketball

It would take March Madness history to keep St. John’s out of NCAA Tournament 

By
Social Links for Zach Braziller
Published March 15, 2024, 5:19 p.m. ET

It would take an NCAA Tournament first for St. John’s to miss the NCAA Tournament at this point.

Since the advent of the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) ranking in 2019, the team with the highest ranking to miss the tournament was N.C. State (33) that year.

St. John’s currently has a NET ranking of 32, and it is unlikely to fall since it is facing Connecticut, which owns a NET ranking of 2, in the Big East Tournament semifinals Friday night.

t. John's Red Storm center Joel Soriano #11, smiling while on the bench in the closing minutes of their first-round matchup against Seton Hall.
St. John’s Red Storm center Joel Soriano (11), smiling while on the bench in the closing minutes of their first-round matchup against Seton Hall. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

The NET is the primary metric the committee uses to evaluate teams.

In fact, only six teams have failed to reach the dance with a NET ranking in the 30s: N.C. State, Clemson (35) and Texas (38) in 2019, Texas A&M (36) and Oklahoma (39) in 2022 and North Texas (38) last year.

Most experts believe St. John’s, which has won six straight games, would, at worst, be sent to the First Four in Dayton even with a loss against the Huskies.

It is currently listed in 91 of 96 projections on BracketMatrix.com.