What everyone has to realize is that it doesn’t matter if the Johnnie’s are over rated, can’t back it up, etc., the amount of PR this will generate for the program is enormous and will pay huge dividends in the long run. It’s how teams like Duke and Kentucky, among others always seem to be in the lime light and always stay ranked no matter how many losses they seem to come up with. This is just fantastic.
Exactly. The AP Preseason Top 25 comes out 3-4 weeks before the season starts for marketing purposes. It's to remind fans that the season is near along with what potential storylines to expect.
St. John's hasn't been able to take advantage of a preseason ranking in 25 years, but now they'll likely have a top 5 ranking to market. They're going to use that to ensure those 3 MSG OOC games are sellouts. If us fans want more OOC MSG games (which I sure do), then this is how it's done.