The Sweet 16 is upon us, as March Madness is in full swing. Several of the blue bloods in college basketball remain, looking for a chance at a coveted National Championship. Among them are the two best teams from the Big East conference, UConn and St. John's.
On Thursday, UConn head coach Dan Hurley joined the Dan Patrick Show as his team prepares to face Michigan State on Friday. Hurley was asked his thoughts on St. John's landing a 5-seed in the East Region.
To no one's surprise, Hurley did not pull any punches in his answer.
“Crap,” he said bluntly.
“Having the two Big East teams in the same region is probably the same.”
St. John's getting a 5 seed after winning the Big East is…?
"Crap." – @dhurley15 pic.twitter.com/eSu87I9ay7
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) March 26, 2026
The Huskies earned a 2-seed in the East Region, while the Red Storm were stuck in the dreaded 5-12 first-round matchup. That was despite St. John's beating UConn two of three times, including hammering them in the Big East Championship. They also won the regular season Big East crown.
But St. John's coach Rick Pitino has had his team ready to play. They earned a victory over Northern Iowa before upsetting the Kansas Jayhawks in the second round.
Patrick pressed Hurley on whether he thought the tournament selection committee got it wrong.
“I think the committee has a weird sense of humor, or they didn't do a great job of giving the people what they want,” he said of a potential fourth meeting this season.
“I think no matter how this week ends up in D.C., you're going to get an Elite Eight game that's going to be incredible.”
St. John's will begin Friday's play against the overall No. 1 seed, the Duke Blue Devils. Duke has shown some kinks in the armor thus far, while the Johnies are playing lights out basketball.
Following that game, the Huskies and Spartans will square off.
To say that the East Region is loaded would be an understatement.
