St. John’s nabs No. 2 seed, draws Omaha in first round of 2025 March Madness bracket
By Ryan Dunleavy
Published March 16, 2025, 6:36 p.m. ET
37 Comments
Up Next - Sportsbook REVEALS Their BIGGEST March Madness Liability | Latest Match Madness Odds
Access the St. John's beat like never before
Join Post Sports+ for exciting member-only features, including real-time texting with Zach Braziller about the inside buzz on St. John’s.
TRY IT NOW
One year after experiencing Selection Sunday heartbreak, St. John’s left nothing to chance.
The Big East regular-season and tournament champions are headed to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the West Region, drawing a first-round matchup Thursday against No. 15 Omaha in Providence, RI.
The Johnnies (30-4) ran roughshod over the field in the Big East Tournament, which ended Saturday night and had them waiting around Sunday as other teams played and jockeyed for the coveted top-two seeds. They gathered on campus to watch the Selection Show with the peace of mind of an automatic bid.
St. John’s was left out of March Madness in 2024 despite a late-season six-game winning streak to reach 20 victories and pushing defending — and eventual repeat — national champion UConn to the limit in the Big East Tournament semifinals. The snub caused head coach Rick Pitino to torch the NET ranking tool.
00:01
04:27
The NET hasn’t been kind again (No. 13 for a team ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press poll).
RJ Luis (12) and St. John's celebrate winning the Big East Tournament on March 15, 2025.
RJ Luis (12) and St. John’s celebrate winning the Big East Tournament on March 15, 2025.
Jason Szenes for the NY Post
Explore More
The 2025 March Madness bracket.
Printable NCAA Tournament bracket: The complete 2025 March Madness field
St. John's
St. John’s title team wasn’t ‘built by NIL money’: Rick Pitino
Tyrone Grant (right), who was on the 1998-99 St. John's team that went to the Elite Eight, says he believes this year's Red Storm team can be better.
Tyrone Grant says St. John’s could be better than his Elite Eight squad
But all it took this season to know that the Red Storm are a Final Four threat was the eyeball test in explosive moments like when they connected on 14 straight field goals to turn a competitive Big East final against Creighton into a blowout. Actually, the players are thinking of bigger goals — like a national championship.
“It’s kind of no longer a dream,” Big East Player of the Year R.J. Luis Jr. recently told The Post. “It’s more of like something that is achievable. And now you think about actually the possibility of doing it, compared to last year, we were just dreaming about, oh, like hopefully you make the tournament.”
Zuby Ejiofor holds up the trophy as St. John's celebrates winning the Big East Tournament on March 15, 2025.
Zuby Ejiofor holds up the trophy as St. John’s celebrates winning the Big East Tournament on March 15, 2025.
Jason Szenes for the NY Post
The Red Storm’s four losses — to Baylor, Georgia, Creighton and Villanova — came by a combined seven points. Only one came after the calendar turned to 2025.
St. John’s captured its first outright Big East regular-season title since 1985 and its first tournament crown since 2000 in just Pitino’s second season at the helm. Pitino became the first head coach to lead six different teams to the NCAA Tournament (Boston, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, Iona, St. John’s).
St. John's Clinches Big East Title
New York Post may be compensated and/or receive an affiliate commission if you buy something through our links.
A trio of double-figure scorers — Luis, the Big East’s Most Improved Player Zuby Ejiofor and Kadary Richmond — also were the team’s top three rebounders, and the playmaking Richmond flirted with more than one triple-double during a late-season hot streak.
The biggest obstacle on the path to a deep run could be running into an unfamiliar sharp-shooting team that runs up scores from behind the 3-point arc and at the free-throw line.
St. John’s shot 29.9 percent from downtown and 68.8 percent from the strip during the regular season — and those are weaknesses that have haunted favorites against Cinderellas for years in the NCAA Tournament.
The No. 2 seed marks St. John’s highest since 2000, when the Erick Barkley-powered team was a No. 2 seed upset by Gonzaga in the infancy of its rise to superpower. One year earlier, as a No. 3, St. John’s reached the Elite Eight and finished one win shy of its first Final Four trip since 1985.
Welcome to Billionaire Club Co LLC, your gateway to a brand-new social media experience! Sign up today and dive into over 10,000 fresh daily articles and videos curated just for your enjoyment. Enjoy the ad free experience, unlimited content interactions, and get that coveted blue check verification—all for just $1 a month!
Account Frozen
Your account is frozen. You can still view content but cannot interact with it.
Please go to your settings to update your account status.
Open Profile Settings