Baylor vs St. John's: 2024-25 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

Is the St. John's Red Storm for real? A neutral site test against the Baylor Bears will go a long way towards answering that question.

Thursday, November 21st, 7:00 pm ET. CBS Sports Network

Location: Baha Mar Convention Center in Nassau, Bahamas

The St. John's Red Storm renaissance is alive and well. It's about to face its biggest obstacle yet, however, in a neutral site competition against a ranked Baylor Bears squad.

Both programs are headed to the Bahamas in good shape, though only Baylor has a loss, an opening night massacre at the hands of Gonzaga. Since then, Baylor has righted the ship with a win against Arkansas, as well as two blowouts over mid-majors. That game against the Bulldogs is far in the rearview mirror, with Baylor truly clicking since then.

The Red Storm's resume is unblemished, but its competition hasn't been particularly fierce, either. A 14-point win over New Mexico on Sunday - and Richard Pitino's son - was solid, but the rest of the teams St. John's has gone up against have been overmatched local foes.

The talent edge almost certainly belongs to Scott Drew's Bears. Baylor has elite players across its starting lineup, including senior guard Jeremy Roach, freshman sensation VJ Edgecombe and transfer forward Norchad Omier.

Baylor is lethal from both the outside and inside. The Bears attempted 32 three-pointers in each of their last two games, nearly hitting 50 percent of them each time. When they miss, Edgecombe is ready to snap up the board, averaging 3.5 offensive rebounds per game. He finished with aplomb.

The Red Storm seemed to have the opposite problem from three against New Mexico. St. John's struggled to buy a shot from deep, but still found a way to grind out a convincing win. But the Storm's 22.2 percent accuracy from three on Sunday isn't sustainable against better clubs if the Red Storm want to win.

Another advantage for the Bears is their ability to swipe the ball. They're one of the top teams in the country in terms of steal percentage and the Red Storm can be turnover prone. If they don't protect the rock, Baylor is going to be swiping the ball from St. John's all day.

A St. John's player deserving of more attention nationally is forward RJ Luis Jr. The second-year transfer had a really strong game against the Lobos at Madison Square Garden, nearly flirting with a triple-double: 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

Both teams likely won't be concerned about looking ahead, but the possibility is always there: the winner will face either a ranked Tennessee squad or a chaos-infused Virginia Cavaliers team that lost their coach before the start of the season.

These teams have only played once before, in November 2012, so it's not particularly instructive to use that result as predictive. That being said, Baylor crushed the Red Storm, 97-78.

St. John's hasn't won a game against a ranked team as a ranked team since 2011. The opportunity for the generational milestone is within reach, but expect Roach and the Bears to pull the football away Charlie Brown style.

Prediction: Baylor 85, St. John's 76