NCAA Tournament seed set: St. John's basketball a 6 seed, playing Gonzaga in Denver; Brigham Young on deck

This is the culmination of hard work, perseverance, and Hammer to Rock.

After a good 40 minutes of selection show bloviation, the St. John's Red Storm finally know where they will play in the NCAA Tournament - the Gonzaga Bulldogs in Denver, Colorado this Thursday, March 17th. The injury to D.J. Kennedy hurt St. John's by at least a seed line; the Johnnies caught a 6 seed and were moved far from their region.

The Gonzaga game is a rematch from the 2000 NCAA Tournament, where the 10th seeded Bulldogs knocked off St. John's in the second round. I remember Erick Barkley's proclamation that only the Final Four would satisfy the Red Storm... but a mediocre game against Dan McClintock and the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks foretold an upset by the then Cinderalla-ish Gonzaga.

Years later, the Bulldogs staved off a challenge from the St. Mary's Gaels in the West Coast Conference to get in the Tournament. They're tall and defend the paint well, but struggle... to handle the ball at times. This year, the #11 seeded Bulldogs will look to once again become national darlings; but there's no way for them to prepare for what is basically a new team that St. John's will bring to Denver.

Looks like a good matchup to me.  And Jimmer Fredette and the #3 seeded Brigham Young Cougars could be hard to beat because of Fredette's shot-making, but they have looked shaky down the stretch without suspended forward Brandon Davies.

These are not, by any means, insurmountable odds.

#doitfordj