Traditionally speaking, Fridays rarely mattered in college basketball's regular season once college football concluded (unless, of course, you're an Ivy League graduate, in which case, I offer my congratulations).
But that's not completely true anymore.
After WWE Smackdown moved from Fox to USA Network earlier this year, Fox executives opted to fill that Friday night hole in the schedule with college basketball. I'm not qualified enough to know whether that's smart or dumb for the network, profitable or costly, a sign of things to come or just a temporary deal — but it's definitely been fun for college basketball fans, who now have something relevant to turn on each Friday.
And this Friday, it's really good.
It's Big East-leader St. John's a against the back-to-back national champions, the UConn Huskies, inside Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. There are only three active coaches with multiple national championships — Bill Self, Rick Pitino and Dan Hurley — and two of them (Pitino) and Hurley) will be roaming the sidelines in a high-profile game that could theoretically decide the conference title.
"We're all trying to get to that level of Connecticut," PItino said last March, just before his program was left out of the NCAA Tournament.
Now, his program is approaching that level. The Red Storm are 20-3 overall, 11-1 in the Big East and No. 17 in Friday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. UConn remains unranked in the Top 25 And 1 because of a resume featuring just an 8-5 record in the first two quadrants with an additional loss to Colorado falling in Quadrant 3. But, I promise, that'll change Saturday morning, if the Huskies are able to snap St. John's nine-game winning streak on Friday night.
UConn is listed as a 3.5-point favorite.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Johni Broome finished with 15 points and six assists in Tuesday's 98-70 win over Oklahoma. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Florida. | -- | 30-5 |
| 2 |  | Tyrese Proctor finished with 16 points and two assists in Wednesday's 83-54 win at Syracuse. The Blue Devils' next game is Saturday at Clemson. | -- | 32-3 |
| 3 |  | Mark Sears finished with 20 points and six assists in Saturday's 90-69 win over Georgia. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday at Arkansas. | -- | 26-8 |
| 4 |  | Igor Milicic Jr. finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 85-81 win over Missouri. The Vols' next game is Saturday at Oklahoma. | -- | 29-7 |
| 5 |  | Will Richard finished with 21 points and 7 rebounds in Tuesday's 86-75 win over Vanderbilt. The Gators' next game is Saturday at Auburn. | -- | 31-4 |
| 6 |  | L.J. Cryer finished with 18 points and three rebounds in Tuesday's 72-63 win over Oklahoma State. The Cougars' next game is Saturday at Colorado. | -- | 32-4 |
| 7 |  | Braden Smith finished with 31 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 90-81 win at Iowa. The Boilermakers' next game is Friday against USC. | -- | 24-11 |
| 8 |  | Stevie Mitchell was 1-of-6 from the field in Tuesday's 70-64 loss at St. John's. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday at Creighton. | -- | 23-11 |
| 9 |  | Joshua Jefferson was 3 of 13 from the field in Monday's 69-52 loss at Kansas. The Cyclones' next game is Saturday against TCU. | -- | 25-9 |
| 10 |  | Wade Taylor IV finished with 25 points and two assists in Saturday's 76-72 win at South Carolina. The Aggies' next game is Saturday at Missouri. | -- | 23-11 |
| 11 |  | PJ Haggerty finished with 23 points and three assists in Wednesday's 83-71 win over Tulsa. The Tigers' next game is Sunday against Temple. | -- | 29-6 |
| 12 |  | Jase Richardson was 0-of-6 from the field in Tuesday's 63-61 loss at UCLA. The Spartans' next game is Saturday against Oregon. | -- | 28-6 |
| 13 |  | Matthew Murrell finished with 24 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 98-84 win over Kentucky. The Rebels' next game is Saturday at LSU. | -- | 23-11 |
| 14 |  | Mark Mitchell was 0-of-6 from the field in Wednesday's 85-81 loss at Tennessee. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Texas A&M. | -- | 22-12 |
| 15 |  | Zeke Mayo finished with 17 points and eight rebounds in Monday's 69-52 win over Iowa State. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday at Kansas State. | -- | 21-13 |
| 16 |  | Chance McMillian finished with 19 points and four rebounds in Tuesday's 73-59 win over Baylor. The Red Raiders' next game is Saturday at Arizona. | -- | 27-8 |
| 17 |  | Kadary Richmond finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's 70-64 win over Marquette. The Red Storm's next game is Friday at UConn. | -- | 31-5 |
| 18 |  | Will Tschetter finished with 17 points and three rebounds in Wednesday's 80-76 win over Oregon. The Wolverines' next game is Saturday at Indiana. | -- | 27-9 |
| 19 |  | Koby Brea was 4 of 10 from the field in Tuesday's 98-84 loss at Ole Miss. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against South Carolina. | -- | 23-11 |
| 20 |  | Michael Nwoko was 0 of 5 from the field in Saturday's 88-61 loss to Missouri. The Bulldogs' next game is Saturday at Georgia. | -- | 21-13 |
| 21 |  | John Tonje finished with 15 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 76-64 win over Indiana. The Badgers' next game is Saturday at Iowa. | -- | 27-10 |
| 22 |  | Caleb Love finished with 18 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 85-74 win at BYU. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Texas Tech. | 1 | 23-12 |
| 23 |  | Skyy Clark finished with 14 points and three assists in Tuesday's 63-61 win over Michigan State. The Bruins' next game is Saturday against Penn State. | 1 | 23-11 |
| 24 |  | J'Vonne Hadley finished with 22 points and four rebounds in Wednesday's 84-58 win at Boston College. The Cardinals' next game is Saturday against Miami. | 1 | 27-8 |
| 25 |  | Ryan Kalkbrenner finished with 35 points and 12 rebounds in Friday's 80-69 win at Providence. The Bluejays' next game is Saturday against Marquette. | NR | 25-11 |
| 26 |  | Ja'Kobi Gillespie was 3 of 11 from the field in Thursday's 73-70 loss at Ohio State. The Terrapins' next game is Sunday against Rutgers. | 4 | 26-8 |
