NCAA Basketball: Kentucky, Purdue, Wisconsin rise in latest top 25 power rankings

25. St. John’s (3-0)

Rick Pitino’s second year with the Red Storm already looks like it has potential. St. John’s entered the national rankings last week with a talented roster and potential to do legitimate damage in the Big East for the first time in years. The analytics like the early performances from this program, it’s just about doing it against strong opposition, and they’ll have to wait a little longer for that chance.

After two relatively easy performances in the first week of the season, it was more of the same in week two for the Red Storm. St. John’s welcomed Wagner to town, and despite a brief scare pulled away for a 66-45 victory. A combination of defense and interior offense led the charge, with RJ Luis Jr.’s 13 points off the bench leading the team.

Luis has been the leading scorer through the opening weeks, but this team has other talent in Brady Dunlap, Deivon Smith, and of course in Kadary Richmond, who’s a triple-double waiting to happen on a nightly basis. The Red Storm have earned respect early in the season based on potential and strong outings against weak teams, but get a chance to truly earn it next week. After a Sunday match with New Mexico, this team heads to the Bahamas to face Baylor and either Tennessee or Virginia to complete a much tougher week.