The St. John's Red Storm has returned to the national spotlight under head coach Rick Pitino in the last few years.
After missing the NCAA tournament in his first season at the helm, St. John's has participated in March Madness two years in a row. In 2025, they were a No. 2 seed but lost in the Round of 32. This past season, they were a No. 5 seed and advanced to the Sweet 16, where they were defeated by the Duke Blue Devils.
What is in store for the Red Storm during the 2026-27 campaign? There is still a lot up in the air, as projecting their performance is virtually impossible with over half of their rotation still in eligibility limbo.
However, there is enough eligible talent in place on the roster that Joe Lunardi of ESPN is comfortable moving them up multiple seed lines in the recent NCAA Bracketology predictions he shared for the 2027 Men's Tournament.
What seed is St. John's projected for in NCAA tournament?
St. John's has moved all the way up to a No. 4 seed in the South Region. In the previous edition of the NCAA Bracketology, Lunardi had the Red Storm as a No. 6 seed. While going over all the 5-in-5 lawsuits and schedules for a new 76-team field, he was comfortable enough moving them up two seed lines.
In this projection, St. John's would line up with the Santa Barbara Gauchos, who make the field as the projected automatic qualifier from the Big West Conference. In their pod, which would be playing games in Sacramento, the Red Storm are also matched up with the Iowa State Cyclones, an at-large team from the Big 12 who are the No. 5 seed, and the No. 12 seed Santa Clara Broncos, who are the projected automatic qualifier from the West Coast Conference.
Ahead of St. John's on the seed lines in the South Region are the Florida Gators, Michigan State Spartans and Houston Cougars, who are Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
The Red Storm are one of six projected Big East teams to make the field in Lunardi's update. Only the UConn Huskies are on a higher seed line, coming in at No. 3 in the East Region, which will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Joining those two are the Villanova Wildcats, a No. 7 seed in the South Region; the Providence Friars, a No. 10 seed as a play-in team in the East Region; the Marquette Golden Eagles, a No. 11 seed in the play-in game in the Midwest Region; and the Creighton Bluejays, a No. 10 seed in the Midwest Region.
That would represent a nice bounceback for the Big East after only three teams were selected in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/st-johns as St. John's Basketball Moving up in Recent NCAA Bracketology.