The NCAA NET rankings debuted this Monday and if one would try to find St. John’s place in the rankings, they better keep scrolling down. While this might seem fair to many basketball fans since the Red Storm also haven’t found a place in the AP men’s basketball rankings as of now, their head coach Rick Pitino has blasted the NCAA’s ratings.

“People need to stop referring to these metrics. They don’t matter. Last year we were: Ken Pom – 21 Torvik – 16 Net – 32 We weren’t even in the first four out.,” Pitino furiously tweeted on X on Tuesday. Notably, the Red Storm are ranked at the 42nd spot in the NET rankings after losing 2 of their initial 8 games.

Pitino’s men have won all five games at home while losing 2 at neutral sites. Nonetheless, even those games were close. While the Red Storm lost to the Baylor Bears by a narrow 99-98 margin in OT, the Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Red Storm by a 66-63 margin recently. But the NET rankings combined with the Red Storm’s performances haven’t taken away the hope from the 72-year-0ld HC.

Pitino is hopeful that the team will be making it to the top 4 this season and wants his men to concentrate on the end result instead of worrying about the rankings. St. John’s has performed exceptionally well in the remaining games, upending their opponents by even blowout margins.

They trumped the Fordham Rams by a 92-60 margin whereas they recently pressured Harvard into making mistakes and decimating them by a 77-64 margin. Hence, the New York-born feels that his team can make a difference and reach their goal, much like how the rankings didn’t stand true last time.

St. John’s had a poor run last year despite being ranked 32nd in NET

2024 was the first season for the 1996 NCAA Championship-winning coach with the Red Storm. While many expected a turnaround in their luck since Pitino had formerly coached the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics during his heydays, the Red Storm fell flat in the face of adversity. According to Pitino, the team was ranked Ken Pom – 21 Torvik – 16 Net – 32 at one time, but despite that, they couldn’t make it to the March Madness.

The Madison Square Garden team had a 20-13 tally and an 11-9 conference record. They lost their second exhibition game against the Pace Setters which they were expected to win easily. After a disappointing regular season, all the fans were hopeful that the Red Storm would make up in the conference round. However, they fell to the Huskies in their just their second game by a close 95-90 tally, ending their dreams of qualifying for the NCAA tournament.

So this time, Pitino is not placing his trust in the polls and asking his mentees to concentrate on their goal. And perhaps, this is what will propel St. John’s to make their comeback into the Final Four for the first time since 1985.