Let the Madness begin for St. John’s.
Rick Pitino’s resurgent Red Storm are the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region and will face No. 15 Omaha on Thursday in Providence, R.I., in the Round of 64.
With a win, St. John’s would face the winner of No. 7 Kansas vs. No. 10 Arkansas on Saturday in Providence in the Round of 32.
The West Regional is set to take place at the Chase Center in San Francisco. Florida is the No. 1 seed in the West, while Texas Tech is the No. 3 seed.
St. John’s earned that No. 2 seed after going 30-4, including 18-2 in conference play, and winning its first outright Big East regular-season championship since 1985 and its first Big East Tournament since 2000.
The Johnnies went 5-1 against ranked teams and 6-4 in quadrant-one games, according to the NCAA’s Net Rankings, which values wins and losses based on factors including location and opponent record.
Their four losses were by a combined seven points.
Thursday’s game marks a return to the Big Dance for St. John’s, which last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2019. St. John’s has not won an NCAA Tournament game since 2000.
St. John’s was one of five Big East teams to make the tournament.
Joining the Johnnies were UConn, a No. 8 seed in the West; Marquette, a No. 7 seed in the South; Creighton, a No. 9 seed in the South; and Xavier, which will face Texas in the First Four for the chance to be the No. 11 seed in the Midwest.
Auburn is the top overall seed and headlines the South Region. Duke is the No. 1 seed in the East, while Houston landed the No. 1 seed in the Midwest.
The Johnnies missed the tournament last year despite finishing 20-13, including 11-9 against the formidable Big East, in their first season under Pitino.
But this year was different.
St. John’s led the Big East in points (78.7) and rebounds (40.9) per game while limiting opponents to a conference-low 65.9 points per game.
Junior guard RJ Luis Jr. won Big East Player of the Year after averaging 18.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, then was named the conference tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after he averaged 20.7 points and 8.0 rebounds.
Pitino won Big East Coach of the Year, while junior forward Zuby Ejiofor was named the conference’s Most Improved Player and joined Luis on the All-Big East first team. Senior guard Kadary Richmond made the All-Big East second team.
St. John’s enters the NCAA Tournament on a nine-game winning streak and as winners of 19 of the last 20 games.
Still, Pitino says he isn’t looking to “send any messages to anyone” about his team.
“I take life one day at a time,” said Pitino, who led Kentucky (1996) and Louisville (2013) to national championships.
“I take it one game at a time. I don’t consider ourselves [in a way] that people should beware of us. I’ve lost in the first round. I’ve been to seven Final Fours. So we’ll take it one game at a time, one possession at a time.”
St. John’s went 18-0 in home games during the regular season, then blew out Butler, Marquette and Creighton at Madison Square Garden during the conference tournament. The Johnnies finished 12-0 at the Garden, playing in front of sellout crowds multiple times down the stretch.
“We want to get the No. 2 seed in the East so we can stay local and our fans can come out and support,” Luis said after beating Creighton, 82-66, in the Big East Tournament championship game.
Despite finishing fifth in the Big East preseason coaches’ poll, St. John’s went into the year with the goals of winning the Big East’s regular-season and tournament championships.
With those missions accomplished, St. John’s now gets to work on what Pitino describes as “phase three.”
“Phase three was to make the tournament,” Pitino said, “and go as far as we could possibly go.”