Big East Basketball Rankings: SJU remains undefeated, DePaul surprising

St. John’s remains undefeated and that has to mean something. Regardless of how you might feel about their incredibly weak strength of schedule, the Red Storm have handled their business through the opening month of the season and deserve credit for being one fo the only undefeated teams left in the nation. With this said, though, we do not exactly know just how good the Red Storm will be this season yet. They have not exactly torn apart their weak slate of opponents so far this season and have often needed to pull away late to avoid an upset.

They cannot start that slow against Big East teams if they want to stay near the top of the conference. And they will need to stay near the top of the conference. Considering SJU’s weak non-conference slate, they cannot afford many slip-ups in Big East play if they want to snag an NCAA Tournament bid. Thankfully, though, I think that this is one of the most talented rosters in the conference and they should be able to compete near the top, although we are yet to see head coach Chris Mullin really excel against high-quality competition.

Looking ahead, St. John’s will enter conference play undefeated as long as they handle their business against Sacred Heart, their third straight NEC opponent, on Dec. 22. That, though, will be when the real season starts for the Johnnies. Will St. John’s live up to the hype or will they flounder in the Big East? That remains to be seen but I really hope they can do away with the “they haven’t played anybody” comments and just dominate.