http://web.sny.tv/media/video.jsp?content_id=37108409&topic_id=6479520
Seton Hall has jumped into the Top 25, and St. John’s remains there.
Thanks to consecutive home wins last week against the No. 15 Johnnies and No. 6 Villanova, Kevin Willard’s Pirates entered the AP rankings Monday at No. 19.
“We’re not nearly as good as we can be,” Willard said in the above video interview.
St. Johns, which peaked at No. 15 after being ranked for three straight weeks, fell to No. 24 after losing at Seton Hall and at home to Butler.
Villanova fell to No. 8 after losing its first game of the season.
Seton Hall earned their first back-to-back wins over Top 25 teams since they topped No. 15 N.C. State and No. 25 Syracuse in Jan. 2006.
Seton Hall also defeated Top 15 AP teams in back-to-back games for the first time since beating No. 10 UConn and No. 10 Syracuse in Feb. 1992.
The Pirates are 2-0 in Big East play for the first time since the 1999-2000 season and for the fifth time in program history. Three of the previous four 2-0 starts resulted in top-half finishes in the conference.
Seton Hall’s 12-2 start matches the 2011-12 and 2012-13 teams for best 14-game starts in Willard’s four-plus year tenure.
LUNARDI HAS 7 BIG EAST TEAMS IN BIG DANCE
For all the heat the new-look Big East has taken for losing Syracuse, Louisville, Notre Dame and others, the Big East is flying high right now.
In his latest bracketology, Joe Lunardi of ESPN has seven Big East teams in the Big Dance: Villanova, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Providence, Butler, Georgetown and Xavier.
The Big 12 and the ACC have six teams apiece and the SEC and Big Ten have five each.
Hofstra of the CAA is a 14 seed.
