Emergency article here for ya. The Johnnies WILL have their Big East opener on Friday after all. However, its against The Hall, not UConn.
St. John’s – Seton Hall. Friday. 4:30 PM. Prudential Center. LFG. Some brilliant scheduling by the execs in charge for starting this game just in time for happy hour.
The original plan
St. John’s was originally looking forward to traveling down to Storrs and spoiling UConn’s return to the Big East, as the opener for both teams was scheduled for Friday at 7pm at the Gampel Pavilion.
Then, news broke Sunday that UConn’s basketball program was on pause for a second time this season due to a positive COVID test. The Johnnies’ hopes of having their Big East opener occur Friday night were immediately shot down.
All hope was lost for fans and students who were looking to kick off their weekends with some SJU hoops.
The DePaul situation
Similarly, Seton Hall was scheduled to host DePaul in Newark for their conference opener at the same time that St. John’s would be playing Connecticut. And just like SJU’s situation, Seton Hall’s opponent had a positive COVID test surface within its program, forcing that game to postpone as well.
Thus, DePaul and UConn’s positive COVID tests had derailed plans for both St. John’s and Seton Hall, respectively.
Manifesting the Braziller idea into existence
Once the UConn news broke on Sunday, our friend Zach Braziller of the New York Post had a brilliant idea: Why don’t St. John’s and Seton Hall just play each other?
Both the Pirates and the Red Storm had been prepared to play a game on Friday. Hall was planning on hosting an opponent, and SJU was getting ready to hit the road for an away game.
It made sense for both parties. The schools are literally 45 minutes away from each other, give or take traffic. I mean who says no?
Then it happened.
Mike Cragg for the Win
When I woke up this morning and saw the news of the reschedule, I was thrilled.
St. John’s Athletic Director Mike Cragg, and Seton Hall Athletic Director Bryan Felt definitely deserve applause here. Being able to make this happen on the fly in assurance that both programs would open up on Friday, was clutch af.
Great leadership all around.
Will history repeat itself?
Hopefully not. Last time the two schools opened Big East play against each other was two years ago, also at the Rock. You remember the rest: The infamous #SetonHallScrewJob.
The bullshit that followed suit after this was beyond what words could express. Even El Pres knew that the refs royally fucked us that night:
But I digress.
Game & Gambling Outlook
Killmer, our gambling guy, will update you on our Twitter account his gambling picks before the game. And be sure to stay tuned for Big Dyl’s post game recap article on Friday night. Should be a lot to talk about.
In the meantime, buckle up and get HYPED for Friday.
Barstool St. John's 