St. John's Storms To No. 25 In Coaches Poll

NEW YORK (WFAN/AP) -- After downing ranked opponent after ranked opponent, St. John's is finally back in the Top 25.

Upsets over Marquette and Pittsburgh last week paved the way for Steve Lavin's Red Storm to rise all the way to #25 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.

"We are building our resume, our body of work, or as they say, an argument to the selection committee," Lavin told WFAN's Evan Roberts on February 11. "Here's what we have going for us, we have the number one or number two strength of schedule in the country."

This current team has turned Madison Square Garden into a house of horrors for highly ranked teams.

The latest of the Red Storm's five wins over teams regarded as the best in the country was a heart-stopping, come-from-behind thriller over Pittsburgh that had the players thinking of joining the ranks of the ranked themselves.

"I can't wait," St. John's forward Justin Burrell said after beating Pitt. "It's been a long four years without that number. We deserve to see that number."

Though the Johnnies cracked the Coaches Poll, it's been just over a decade since St. John's was last in The Associated Press poll.

St. John's has beat Georgetown, Notre Dame, Duke and Connecticut, all big wins in the eyes of the NCAA tournament selection committee.

The Red Storm are looking for their first bid since 2002.

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