The Friday of Championship Week, otherwise known as Selection Sunday Eve-Eve, is always tremendous. The best of the best are usually playing. Bubble teams are constantly in action. The games start early and end late. It's one of the best days of the year in the sport.
Today will be no different.
Purdue-Michigan State will get things underway at noon. Colorado State-New Mexico won't end until about 14 hours later. In between, it'll be one thrill after another. But nothing, and I mean nothing, will compare to the scene inside Madison Square Garden, just before the sun sets over the Hudson River, when UConn and St. John's take the court for the first of two Big East Tournament semifinals. Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer Rick Pitino will be on one side, future Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer Dan Hurley on the other. In the secondary market, it's the most expensive ticket in American sports on Friday by far.
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"It's an unbelievable feeling, man," said St. John's center Joel Soriano, who finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds in Thursday's 91-72 victory over Seton Hall. "Everybody that I've known from St. John's ... Coach P even said ... 'Playing Friday night at Madison Square Garden, there's no better feeling. There's no other tournament bigger than the Big East Tournament.'"
The fact that St. John's is in this position is remarkable considering where the Red Storm were roughly a month ago — specifically, on a three-game losing streak that prompted Pitino to call his first season back in the Big East the "most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime." Since those words made national headlines, the Red Storm are 6-0 with two Quadrant 1 wins and in the Big East Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2000 -- but extending this winning streak will be difficult considering they're 9.5-point underdogs to UConn, which remains No. 2 in Friday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings.
Purdue is No. 1 for the 24th straight day.
Houston remains No. 3.
Those three schools are now guaranteed to be the top three seeds (in some order) in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The fourth No. 1 seed remains up for grabs with North Carolina and Tennessee seemingly serving as the top two candidates, at this point, to secure it.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Zach Edey finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds in Sunday's 78-70 win over Wisconsin. The Boilermakers are the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. | -- | 34-5 |
| 2 |  | Tristen Newton finished with 13 points and seven rebounds in Thursday's 87-60 win over Xavier. The Huskies' next game is Friday against St. John's. | -- | 37-3 |
| 3 |  | Emanuel Sharp finished with 14 points and four rebounds in Thursday's 60-45 win over TCU. The Cougars' next game is Friday against Texas Tech. | -- | 32-5 |
| 4 |  | RJ Davis finished with 18 points and three assists in Thursday's 92-67 win over Florida State. The Tar Heels' next game is Friday against Pitt. | -- | 29-8 |
| 5 |  | Santiago Vescovi was 0 of 5 from the field in Saturday's 85-81 loss to Kentucky. The Vols are the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament. | -- | 27-9 |
| 6 |  | Robert Jones finished with 18 points and three steals in Thursday's 76-57 win over Kansas State. The Cyclones' next game is Friday against Baylor. | -- | 29-8 |
| 7 |  | KJ Lewis finished with 15 points and six rebounds in Thursday's 70-49 win over USC. The Wildcats' next game is Friday against Oregon. | 1 | 27-9 |
| 8 |  | RayJ Dennis finished with 13 points and six assists in Thursday's 68-55 win over Cincinnati. The Bears' next game is Friday against Iowa State. | 1 | 24-11 |
| 9 |  | Kam Jones finished with 18 points and six rebounds in Thursday's 71-65 win over Villanova. The Golden Eagles' next game is Friday against Providence. | 1 | 27-10 |
| 10 |  | Steven Ashworth was 3 of 13 from the field in Thursday's 78-73 loss to Providence. The Bluejays' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | 3 | 25-10 |
| 11 |  | Great Osobor finished with 29 points and 17 rebounds in Thursday's 87-75 win over Fresno State. The Aggies' next game is Friday against San Diego State. | -- | 28-7 |
| 12 |  | Denver Jones finished with 21 points and three assists in Saturday's 92-78 win over Georgia. The Tigers are the No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament. | 1 | 27-8 |
| 13 |  | Terrence Shannon Jr. finished with 25 points and three rebounds in Sunday's 73-61 win at Iowa. The Illini are the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. | 2 | 29-9 |
| 14 |  | Reed Sheppard finished with 27 points and six rebounds in Saturday's 85-81 win at Tennessee. The Wildcats are the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament. | 2 | 23-10 |
| 15 |  | Johnny Furphy was 1 of 8 from the field in Wednesday's 72-52 loss to Cincinnati. The Jayhawks' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | 2 | 23-11 |
| 16 |  | Jeremy Roach was 1 of 6 from the field in Thursday's 74-69 loss to NC State. The Blue Devils' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | 4 | 27-9 |
| 17 |  | B.J. Mack finished with 19 points and nine rebounds in Thursday's 80-66 win over Arkansas. The Gamecocks' next game is Friday against Auburn. | 3 | 26-8 |
| 18 |  | Pop Isaacs finished with 22 points and three rebounds in Thursday's 81-67 win over BYU. The Red Raiders' next game is Friday against Houston. | 6 | 23-11 |
| 19 |  | Mark Sears finished with 22 points and six assists in Saturday's 92-88 in over Arkansas. The Crimson Tide are the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament. | 2 | 25-12 |
| 20 |  | Dallin Hall was 0 of 6 from the field in Thursday's 81-67 loss to Texas Tech. The Cougars' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | 6 | 23-11 |
| 21 |  | Isaac Jones finished with 16 points and six rebounds in Thursday's 79-62 win over Stanford. The Cougars' next game is Friday against Colorado. | 1 | 25-10 |
| 22 |  | Jaedon LeDee finished with 34 points and 16 rebounds in Thursday's 74-71 win over UNLV. The Aztecs' next game is Friday against Utah State. | NR | 26-11 |
| 23 |  | Steven Crowl finished with 17 points and three rebounds in Thursday's 87-56 win over Maryland. The Badgers' next game is Friday against Northwestern. | NR | 22-14 |
| 24 |  | Aidan Mahaney finished with 23 points and two rebounds in Tuesday's 69-60 win over Gonzaga. The Gaels' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | 1 | 26-8 |
| 25 |  | Gonzaga only got four points from its bench in Wednesday's 69-60 loss to Saint Mary's. The Zags' next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | 1 | 27-8 |
| 26 |  | Nevada allowed Colorado State to shoot 50% from the field in Thursday's 85-78 loss to the Rams. The Wolf Pack's next game will be in the NCAA Tournament. | 7 | 26-8 |
