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For years and years, on the Eye On College Basketball Podcast and anywhere else I was asked about it, I consistently said I understood why Louisville moved on from Rick Pitino after one scandal too many on his watch — but what I never understood was the way the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame coach was more or less exiled from power-conference hoops for six seasons.

Why did that happen?

Various power-conference programs have long employed coaches with scandals in their pasts — and did so the entire time Pitino was coaching in Greece and at Iona following his resignation from Louisville in 2017. So whenever I was asked about a power-conference opening, and whether Pitino should be an option for it, if it made sense, I nodded in the affirmative.

Finally, St. John's pulled the trigger.

And now, in Year 2 under Pitino, the Red Storm are 20-3 overall, 11-1 in the Big East and alone atop the conference standings following Tuesday night's 70-64 victory over Marquette inside Madison Square Garden. Quickly becoming one of the biggest stories in the sport, St. John's has won nine straight games, still hasn't lost in 2025, is on pace to secure its first conference championship since 1992, and is No. 17 in Wednesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings.

"This is a relentless group," Pitino said before later adding, "I'm so damn proud of this team."

Next up for the Red Storm is a good one -- specifically a showdown with the back-to-back national champs, the UConn Huskies, on Friday inside a sold-out and sure-to-be-rowdy Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. For what it's worth, over at EvanMiya.com, the game basically projects as a coin-flip with St. John's having a 50.3% chance to win while UConn is sitting at 49.7%.

Top 25 And 1 rankings

Biggest Movers
4 Houston
10 Kentucky
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Teams
  
Chg
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1 Auburn Johni Broome finished with 15 points and six assists in Tuesday's 98-70 win over Oklahoma. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Florida. -- 30-5
2 Duke Cooper Flagg finished with 21 points and seven assists in Saturday's 87-70 win over North Carolina. The Blue Devils' next game is Wednesday at Syracuse. -- 34-3
3 Alabama Mark Sears finished with 20 points and six assists in Saturday's 90-69 win over Georgia. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday at Arkansas. -- 28-8
4 Tennessee Chaz Lanier finished with 19 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 64-44 win over Florida. The Vols' next game is Wednesday against Missouri. -- 29-7
5 Florida Will Richard finished with 21 points and 7 rebounds in Tuesday's 86-75 win over Vanderbilt. The Gators' next game is Saturday at Auburn. -- 33-4
6 Houston L.J. Cryer finished with 18 points and three rebounds in Tuesday's 72-63 win over Oklahoma State. The Cougars' next game is Saturday at Colorado. 4 32-4
7 Purdue Braden Smith finished with 31 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 90-81 win at Iowa. The Boilermakers' next game is Friday against USC. 4 24-11
8 Marquette Stevie Mitchell was 1-of-6 from the field in Tuesday's 70-64 loss at St. John's. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday at Creighton. 2 23-11
9 Iowa St. Joshua Jefferson was 3 of 13 from the field in Monday's 69-52 loss at Kansas. The Cyclones' next game is Saturday against TCU. 1 25-10
10 Texas A&M Wade Taylor IV finished with 25 points and two assists in Saturday's 76-72 win at South Carolina. The Aggies' next game is Saturday at Missouri. 2 23-11
11 Memphis PJ Haggerty finished with 26 points and eight rebounds in Sunday's 86-83 win at Rice. The Tigers' next game is Wednesday against Tulsa. 2 29-6
12 Mich. St. Jase Richardson was 0-of-6 from the field in Tuesday's 63-61 loss at UCLA. The Spartans' next game is Saturday against Oregon. 5 29-6
13 Ole Miss Matthew Murrell finished with 24 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 98-84 win over Kentucky. The Rebels' next game is Saturday at LSU. 4 24-11
14 Missouri Caleb Grill finished with 20 points and two assists in Saturday's 88-61 win at Mississippi State. The Tigers' next game is Wednesday at Tennessee. -- 22-12
15 Kansas Zeke Mayo finished with 17 points and eight rebounds in Monday's 69-52 win over Iowa State. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday at Kansas State. -- 21-13
16 Texas Tech Chance McMillian finished with 19 points and four rebounds in Tuesday's 73-59 win over Baylor. The Red Raiders' next game is Saturday at Arizona. -- 28-8
17 St. John's Kadary Richmond finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's 70-64 win over Marquette. The Red Storm's next game is Friday at UConn. 2 31-5
18 Michigan Danny Wolf finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday's 66-63 win at Rutgers. The Wolverines' next game is Wednesday against Oregon. -- 27-9
19 Kentucky Koby Brea was 4 of 10 from the field in Tuesday's 98-84 loss at Ole Miss. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against South Carolina. 10 24-11
20 Miss. St. Michael Nwoko was 0 of 5 from the field in Saturday's 88-61 loss to Missouri. The Bulldogs' next game is Saturday at Georgia. -- 21-13
21 Wisconsin John Tonje finished with 15 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 76-64 win over Indiana. The Badgers' next game is Saturday at Iowa. 2 27-10
22 Maryland Derik Queen finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds in Wednesday's 76-68 win over Wisconsin. The Terrapins' next game is Thursday at Ohio State. -- 27-9
23 Arizona Caleb Love finished with 18 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 85-74 win at BYU. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Texas Tech. 1 24-13
24 Illinois Will Riley finished with 24 points and three rebounds in Sunday's 87-79 win over Ohio State. The Illini's next game is Wednesday at Rutgers. 1 22-13
25 UCLA Skyy Clark finished with 14 points and three assists in Tuesday's 63-61 win over Michigan State. The Bruins' next game is Saturday against Penn State. NR 23-11
26 Louisville Reyne Smith was 1 of 6 from the field in Saturday's 77-70 loss at Georgia Tech. The Cardinals' next game is Wednesday at Boston College. -- 27-8