St. John's 2022 NCAA Tournament bracketology, odds: Red Storm's at-large Big Dance chances likely gone with loss vs. Creighton
Important NCAA Tournament bubble game in the Big East on Wednesday as Creighton visits St. John's.
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Even if Big East school St. John's were to run the table the rest of the regular season, the Red Storm probably would be on the wrong side of the bubble for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Thus, it's definitely fair to say that the Johnnies have essentially no shot for an at-large bid if they lose to bubble team Creighton on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. The Red Storm are -5 at Caesars Sportsbook.
Coach Mike Anderson has two of the better players in the Big East in guards Julian Champagnie (19.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and Posh Alexander (14.5 ppg, 5.3 apg) but little else. That's why St. John's is 15-11 overall and 7-8 in conference play. The Red Storm don't have a notable victory and one horrible loss at Pittsburgh back on Dec. 18. They are 2-9 vs. Quad 1 opponents and 12-1 vs. Quads 3-4.
Thus, the Johnnies are No. 66 in the NCAA NET rankings. That's below the likes of BYU of the West Coast Conference, Belmont of the Ohio Valley, Vermont of America East and Utah State of the Mountain West. St. John's isn't even listed among the "Last Four Out" of any major bracketology expert.
The only realistic shot the team has at an at-large bid is finishing the regular season 4-0 – after Wednesday, St. John's visits DePaul on Sunday, hosts Xavier next Wednesday and visits Marquette on March 5 – and then wins a couple of games in the Big East Tournament. Considering the Red Storm haven't won more than two straight Big East games this season, that's unlikely.
Creighton (18-8, 10-5 Big East), on a five-game winning streak, is a No. 10 seed currently in the NCAA Tournament via bracketology from Jerry Palm of CBS Sports and among the "Last Four Byes" via ESPN's Joe Lunardi. The Bluejays have an NET ranking of 62, so they can't much afford a loss Wednesday. Their remaining schedule is tough: Saturday at No. 11 Providence, March 2 vs. No. 21 UConn and March 5 vs. Seton Hall.
Coach Greg McDermott's team does have quality wins over BYU, Villanova, Marquette twice and UConn. Creighton easily handled St. John's 87-64 in Omaha on Jan. 19 behind 28 points from Alex O'Connell and 20 from Arthur Kaluma. However, the freshman Kaluma hasn't played since Feb. 8 due to injury and probably won't Wednesday. More than 39 percent of Creighton's points this season have come from freshmen.
Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Will St. John's be in the 2022 NCAA Tournament field?
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