St. John’s Gets Screwed in NCAA Bracket Draw!

St. John’s Draws Tough Path, Stephen A. Smith Blasts NCAA Tournament Bracket

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Selection Sunday has come and gone, and while the brackets are set, the debate over seeding and regional matchups is just heating up. On ESPN’s ‘First Take,’ Stephen A. Smith and analysts Seth Greenberg and Jay Bilas dissected the tournament draw, with a particular focus on the perceived injustices handed to the St. John’s Red Storm and the daunting path laid out for top overall seed Duke. The consensus among the panel was clear: St. John’s got a raw deal.

Duke’s Grueling East Region

The East region, where Duke landed as the No. 1 overall seed, was immediately flagged as arguably the toughest in the tournament. This region boasts a collection of college basketball blue bloods, including five of the seven programs with at least 70 official wins in NCAA tournament history and six programs with multiple national championships. “This region is absolutely top-heavy,” stated Seth Greenberg. “You’re the overall number one seed. And what do you get for that? You get UCLA, UConn, Michigan State, Louisville, Kansas, and St. John’s. Are you kidding me?”

Greenberg argued that Duke, despite their top seeding, faces a more challenging road than any other No. 1 seed. He pointed out the tradition-rich programs and Hall of Fame coaches they could potentially face. Stephen A. Smith, while acknowledging Duke’s tough draw, quickly pivoted to what he saw as a more egregious snub: St. John’s.

St. John’s ‘Royally Screwed’

The frustration for Stephen A. Smith and Seth Greenberg stemmed from St. John’s seeding and placement in the bracket. Despite winning the Big East regular season championship and the Big East tournament, where they famously obliterated UConn (a No. 2 seed in the tournament), the Red Storm were placed as a No. 5 seed. “St. John’s got absolutely royally screwed,” Greenberg declared. “I mean, if anybody watched that game on Saturday night, how in the world is St. John’s not a top 12, top 15 team?”

The panel highlighted St. John’s dominant performance against UConn, a team that earned a No. 2 seed. “They destroyed him. THE GAME WAS NOT COMPETITIVE. They’re 10-0 before he even blinked,” Greenberg emphasized, questioning how a team that beats a No. 2 seed so convincingly, while also winning their conference regular season and tournament, could be relegated to a No. 5 seed.

The Travel Gauntlet and Seeding Discrepancy

Adding insult to injury, St. John’s was sent to San Diego to face Northern Iowa, a team known for its difficult pace, before potentially facing Kansas. This geographical placement raised eyebrows. “They’re going to play two road games,” Greenberg noted. “And they’re the only team that starts in the East, goes west, and then has to come back east. UCLA is coming east, but they stay here because they’re going to play in Washington. St. John’s has to go to San Diego and then come all the way back east to play Duke if they win the two games.”

The seeding discrepancy was a major point of contention. Greenberg drew a stark comparison: “Virginia is a three seed and St. John’s is a five seed. IF YOU PUT ST. JOHN’S and Virginia up. THEY PLAYED RIGHT NOW, RIGHT THIS SECOND. You de you think that St. John’s is not going to be a favorite in that game? Go ask. They’d be a five, six point favorite. Virginia beat nobody. Absolutely. I don’t care about beating SMU. They beat nobody. 0 and 3 against Duke and North Carolina. They got killed by Duke and they’re a three seed and St. John’s beat UConn a two seed twice and they’re a five seed.”

Stephen A. Smith agreed with the assessment that St. John’s was placed unfairly, suggesting that the Big East’s perceived weakness this year might have played a role, but ultimately argued that St. John’s performance, especially against UConn, warranted better treatment. “When you think about, you know, coach talks about stuff like this all the time because he finds a feel-good story wherever he can in college basketball. Nobody’s better at finding a feel-good story than Seth Greenberg. You got character. You you’re pristine with your character. Seth Greenberg is going to go out there. He’s going to put it on front. You let everybody know that’s a good guy. And let me tell you something about a great coach like Rick Patino. You want me to tell you what greatness is? When you get your ass kicked thoroughly and then turn around in the next meeting and you whip that team’s ass. Not beat them, whip their ass. That’s what coaching is all about. That’s character. That’s what we saw from St. John’s.”

The ‘Eye Test’ vs. Metrics

The discussion touched upon the NCAA selection committee’s reliance on data and metrics versus the ‘eye test.’ “I think the problem that we have with these committees and in all sports, it’s all about data. It’s all about metrics. It’s all about these, you know, these, you can’t quantify them, but it’s all about this, you know, well, they did this against quad ones. They play this, they do that. How about go with your eye test? How about watching the games with your eyes as a sports fan? Say, you know what? Geez, I don’t want to play St. John’s. I’m telling you right now, they destroyed Connecticut and they beat him twice as he’s a great coach. They got a lot of guys who are physical. Plus, a lot of those losses they had early in the year. They had a lot of NIL guys. Takes a team a while to jail. Right now, I don’t want to deal with them.”

Coach Greenberg also shared that St. John’s coach Rick Pitino reportedly doesn’t mind the East region placement, believing his team is ready for tough competition. However, the panel reiterated their belief that St. John’s deserved a better draw, especially given their impressive victories and conference championship. The potential early matchup between St. John’s and Duke, two teams that the analysts felt were seeded inappropriately given their performances, sets up a compelling storyline in the East region.

Looking Ahead

The implications for Duke’s tournament run are significant, with key players out due to injury. “Duke is not a number one when they have two starters out,” Greenberg pointed out. “They’re not the overall number one maybe because those two starters out are huge.” The team is relying on a shortened rotation and the emergence of players like Cam Boozer, who is being asked to play a point-guard role. Meanwhile, St. John’s faces an uphill battle, but their dominant win over UConn suggests they could be a dangerous spoiler in this loaded region.

The final moments of the segment included a poignant observation from Dan Hurley, UConn’s coach, who stated after their loss to St. John’s, “We know we play our best ball tournament time against nonconference teams.” This remark was interpreted by the ‘First Take’ panel as Hurley acknowledging that St. John’s, despite being a conference opponent, played with the intensity and quality of a top non-conference team, further underscoring the perceived injustice of their seeding.

Source: Stephen A.‘s FRUSTRATED by St. John’s NCAA Men’s Tournament draw | First Take (YouTube)