St. John’s facing Northern Iowa in first round of March Madness bracket

St. John’s road to a potential deep March Madness run begins against Northern Iowa.

The Red Storm, seeded No. 5 in the East region, will face No. 12 Northern Iowa in the first round of the bracket in San Diego on Friday.

After winning their second straight Big East championship Saturday with a dominant win over UConn — marking the first time in program history they’ve repeated as Big East champs — the Johnnies hope to surpass last season’s NCAA Tournament run, which ended early in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 2-seeded Red Storm lost to No. 10 Arkansas, led by John Calipari.

Rick Pitino appears to have St. John’s peaking at the right time after rolling through Providence, Seton Hall and UConn at MSG.

The Red Storm enter March Madness having won 19 of their last 20 games, the lone loss a no-show 32-point loss to UConn in Hartford.

The Post has you covered with a printable NCAA bracket featuring the full 68-team March Madness 2026 field.

Senior Zuby Ejiofor, the Big East Player of the Year, led the way for the Johnnies this season by averaging 16.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 55.4 percent.

Across the three Big East Tournament games, Ejiofor totalled 59 points, 24 rebounds, nine assists and 12 blocks, seven of which game in the final against the Huskies.