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Bracketology Losers: Syracuse, Texas and St. John’s suffer setbacks

By Tristan Freeman

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 16: Oshae Brissett #11 and teammate Tyus Battle #25 of the Syracuse Orangereact after the conclusion of the first half of the game against Oregon Ducks during the 2k Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 16: Oshae Brissett #11 and teammate Tyus Battle #25 of the Syracuse Orangereact after the conclusion of the first half of the game against Oregon Ducks during the 2k Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – FEBRUARY 7: Head coach Chris Mullin of the St. John’s Red Storm yells out to his team against the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on February 7, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – FEBRUARY 7: Head coach Chris Mullin of the St. John’s Red Storm yells out to his team against the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on February 7, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

St. John’s Red Storm

To some degree, it must be nice for the fans that St. John’s is even legitimately part of this discussion, after being near the bottom of the Big East for some time. But talented upperclassmen have made this team viable and a potential NCAA Tournament contender.

St. John’s went undefeated in the non-conference but the overall schedule was very weak, with win over VCU and Georgia Tech representing the best wins. That puts heavy pressure for the Red Storm to succeed in conference play – but also more scrutiny.

Chris Mullin’s team fell this past week to DePaul, arguably the worst team in the Big East. While the Red Storm didn’t have star guard Shamorie Ponds, it was still a bad home loss to the Blue Demons. And with there being little non-conference achievements to help offset the loss, being 2-3 to start out is problematic.

While the Big East is competitive overall, there aren’t many signature wins available throughout the league. Butler, Providence, Creighton and Xavier are all down a bit so it’s important for the Red Storm to rack up wins against them going forward.

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Getting to 11 wins at least is key for them to have a true shot at an at-large bid and ending the program drought of missing out on the postseason. That’s why the loss to DePaul stung so much, as it was a step back for them. Creighton and Butler are next up, so how St. John’s responds is extremely important to put themselves in a good position.

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