Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Butler, DePaul keep rising

St. John’s continues to essentially meet expectations so far this season while playing one of the easiest schedules in the entire country. Per KenPom, the Red Storm’s SOS to date sits at just 349th (out of 353) nationally and it is therefore nearly impossibly to truly gauge where the team belongs at this point. St. John’s holds a 7-2 record and sit around the No. 100 mark in most analytic systems.

In my opinion, it still feels as though this team will exceed expectations this season and that is partly due to the play of some other teams in the conference. While Butler and DePaul have soared past their respective preseason expectations, teams like Providence and Georgetown are shrinking the gap between last place and the No. 8/9 spots.

St. John’s also brings a slightly different look to the court with their playing style. Under new head coach Mike Anderson, the Red Storm have adopted an up-tempo scheme centered around forcing turnovers defensively and quickly finding the best shot offensively. As a result, the team currently ranks 6th in the nation in average offensive possession length (14.2 seconds). While this pace has its downsides, it appears as though the roster has quickly bought into what Coach Anderson is selling. Additionally, their defense is forcing turnovers at the 42nd highest-rate in the country.

With regard to individual contributors, a clear top trio is emerging in Queens. Of course, noted returners LJ Figueroa (14.7 pts) and Mustapha Heron (15.2 pts) are leading the way but freshman forward Julian Champagnie has been very impressive. He is averaging 11.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. This is still a fairly young team and there is room for growth.

A home matchup with a fringe top-25 opponent in West Virginia is next up on the schedule and that should provide a better litmus test for where the Red Storm stand compared to anything else we have seen thus far.