Bracketology 2021: Ohio State, USC, and St. John’s among big winners

St. John’s

The Big East, even since their major realignment in 2013, has been a stout conference with talented teams. While Villanova has rightfully gotten much of the publicity, it’s impossible not to see the rise of talent in programs like Creighton, Providence, Seton Hall, and Xavier in recent years. The recent rejoining of UConn, the play of teams like Butler and Marquette; the Big East is a deep league.

But we’ve missed a team; a program that has been playing fantastically for the last month. St. John’s had their best week of the season, starting with a major upset over #3 Villanova on Wednesday. Then on Saturday, they got a 24-point, 10-rebound effort from Julian Champagnie to knock off Providence on the road, the Red Storm’s fourth straight road win.

Suddenly, St. John’s is now 13-7 with a 7-6 mark in that tough Big East. The Red Storm have won six games in a row, with four of those being Big East road games. Out of nowhere, St. John’s is working their way back onto bracket boards, and that win over Villanova cannot be understated. That’s an impressive thing to have in their pocket, especially if they’re on the bubble in a few weeks.

Scheduling is still an adventure, but the remaining games on the Red Storm schedule do provide some challenges, including a rematch on the road at Villanova. There are some winnable games against Butler and Xavier coming up. If the Red Storm keep their hot streak going, they’ll work their way not only into the NCAA Tournament, but firmly.