(Maddie Meyer/Getty Images North America/TNS)Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily NewsTue, December 2, 2025 at 12:54 AM UTC·2 min readNEW YORK — Two more ranked losses did some damage to St. John’s in the AP poll.
St. John’s fell to No. 23 in the latest ranking after losing to Iowa State and Auburn last week.
The Johnnies’ nine-spot drop from last week’s No. 14 ranking was the biggest of any school in the top 25.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAfter beginning the season ranked No. 5, St. John’s is 4-3, with all three defeats coming against ranked opponents.
“I take it one day at a time,” head coach Rick Pitino said last week. “I’ve been through this before. Defensively, we have a lot of work to do. We can get there, but it’s going to take a different mindset. Scoring is not the ultimate. It’s defense, and you have to buy in.”
Iowa State was ranked No. 15 when it beat St. John’s, 83-82, to open the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas. Auburn was No. 20 when it topped the Red Storm, 85-74, in the consolation round of the tournament.
The three losses are nearly as many as St. John’s totaled all of last season, when it went 31-5 and won the Big East’s outright regular-season and conference tournament championships.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe momentum from that resurgent season, coupled with what many touted as the best transfer class in the country, prompted sky-high expectations for St. John’s.
But St. John’s remains a work in progress after only one starter — senior forward/center Zuby Ejiofor — returned from the 2024-25 team.
“We’ve just got to stay focused and learn how to win together as a team,” said reserve forward Sadiku Ibine Ayo, a senior in his third year at St. John’s. “We’ve got a bunch of new guys and we’re still figuring out how to play with each other. At the end of the day, we’ve got to win.”
No. 6 UConn is the Big East’s only other ranked team.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSt. John’s also lost to then-No. 15 Alabama at Madison Square Garden in the second game of the season.
The Johnnies will attempt to get right when they face unranked Ole Miss (5-2) at the Garden on Saturday night. St. John’s is 4-0 against unranked opponents, including beating Baylor in the middle game of the tournament in Vegas.
“It was a disappointing trip,” Pitino said. “We’ve got to regroup against a very good Ole Miss team now that we’re 0-2 against the SEC.”
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