It took nearly four years to the date for Seton Hall men’s basketball to make their return to the Associated Press (AP) Top 25—and just a week for them to be completely dropped from it.
On Monday, the AP released its Week 11 Top 25 Men’s College Basketball Poll, which did not include the Pirates (14-4, 4-3 BIG EAST) after they debuted at No. 25 the week prior. SHU was also nowhere to be found on the poll’s fringes, with them not receiving a single top-25 vote from any one of the poll’s 60 voters for the first time in seven-straight weeks of polling.
In addition to falling out of the AP poll, The Hall also fell six spots in the NET rankings, which is used to determine NCAA Tournament selection and seeding come March, from No. 41 to No. 47.
It was unfortunate timing for SHU, who hosted then-No. 3 UConn at the Prudential Center just a day after earning the program’s first national ranking since Jan. 10, 2022. Although the Pirates were the clear underdogs, the game posed a challenge for both teams, as the Huskies had to contend with their recent struggles in Newark, having lost there in four-straight seasons.
But the Huskies snapped that streak on Tuesday night, winning 69-64 after fending off what would have been the Pirates’ fourth-straight double-digit, second-half comeback victory. Down by 13 points at halftime, then 18 points just five minutes into the second half, The Hall went on a series of late runs to chip away at UConn’s lead. With just 47.3 seconds left, SHU managed to cut the Huskies’ lead to just one point, the Pirates trailing 65-64. But the Pirates failed to score in their last few possessions of the game, as the Huskies managed to ice the game from the line, holding on for the 69-64 win.
Many in Pirate Nation were hopeful that the team’s effort on Tuesday, despite losing, was enough for them to retain their ranking at No. 25. The newly ranked Pirates, after all, nearly rallied late against the third-ranked team in the nation, all while holding them to their most turnovers (17), lowest three-point field goal percentage (17.6%) and number of three-pointers made (3-of-17) and third-lowest point total (69) of the season.
But that was assuming SHU would beat Butler on Saturday—which didn’t happen. After yet another poor first half showing from them, the Pirates fell, 77-66, to the Bulldogs, who were riding a four-game losing streak prior to their visit to the Prudential Center. With the loss, The Hall finished the week 0-2, having failed to take care of business at home twice in one week.
Pirate Nation can rest assured, though, that even if SHU had beat Butler and finished the week 1-1, the Pirates likely would not have stayed in the Top 25 anyway given the play of other teams—especially unranked ones on the fringes of last week’s poll, like the Kansas Jayhawks.
On the same day the Pirates fell to the Huskies (who rose to No. 2 in the latest poll), Kansas upset then-No. 2 Iowa St., who were 16-0 prior to their matchup. In last week’s poll, the Cyclones rose one spot from No. 3 to No. 2, while the Jayhawks were not included in the Top 25 at all, instead receiving 60 votes to put them effectively at No. 27. But a huge upset like that tends to elevate teams quite a few spots, with the 2026 NBA Draft lottery pick Darryn Peterson-led Kansas Jayhawks entering the latest poll at No. 19.
In addition to Kansas, Saint Louis, who received 92 votes and were the last team outside of last week’s poll, improved to 17-1 after a 2-0 week, earning them the No. 24 spot in the latest poll. Miami (Ohio) also had a 2-0 week, and are one of four undefeated teams left in college basketball at 19-0. The RedHawks replaced the Pirates at No. 25 in the latest poll, with them earning their first national ranking since the 1998-1999 season in doing so.
While these unranked teams rose into the Top 25, other teams already in the poll’s bottom half fell, with them either helping push SHU out of the poll or them following the Pirates in their fall. As for the former, North Carolina lost to both unranked Stanford and California, respectively, and fell eight spots in the poll from No. 14 to No. 22. Meanwhile, then-No. 24 Tennessee were also upset by unranked Kentucky in the Wildcats’ third-straight double-digit, second-half comeback victory on Saturday (sound familiar?). With the loss, the Volunteers were relegated to the poll’s fringes for the first time this season, with them and SHU making room for teams like Saint Louis and Miami (Ohio) to rise.
But regardless of AP recognition, SHU has still exceeded expectations. After going just 7-25 last season, the Pirates have performed much better than anticipated this season. Not included in the AP Preseason / Week 1 Poll and picked to finish last in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll, they currently hold a 14-4 record through 18 games, with three of those losses coming against Quad 1 opponents. Before Tuesday, The Hall were 4-1 in conference play; now 4-3, the Pirates are focused on getting back to their winning ways.
“We got to continue to prove to everyone else who we are,” graduate guard AJ Staton-McCray said after Saturday’s loss.
The Pirates could prove themselves this week with wins at St. John’s and DePaul (11-7, 3-4 BIG EAST), which would be a Quad 1 and Quad 2 win, respectively, both made even better by being on the road. SHU will first make the short trip across the Hudson to face the Red Storm at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, then a longer trip to Chicago on Saturday to face the Blue Devils, who are riding a three-straight home win streak in conference play for the first time since 2007.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
