Alabama is working toward adding St. John’s to its non-conference basketball schedule with a game this November in Madison Square Garden, the Tide’s NIL collective Yea Alabama announced Thursday.
CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported Thursday the game will take place Saturday, November 8, and St. John’s is expected to play in Birmingham’s Legacy Arena in 2026.
The two schools reportedly had talks in 2023 after Rick Pitino was hired by St. John’s to begin a non-conference series in New York in 2024, with a return game to Birmingham in 2025.
St. John’s, which was upset as a No. 2 seed by Arkansas in the 2025 NCAA tournament, is considered one of the best teams in the country entering 2025-26. CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein currently ranks the Red Storm at No. 3, while CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish pegs them at No. 2. ESPN’s Jeff Borzello ranks St. John’s at No. 3 and Field of 68 at No. 3.
St. John’s has 247 Sports’ No. 1 ranked incoming transfer portal class for 2025.
Alabama’s non-conference schedule already includes a home game against Purdue on December 13, a neutral-site game in Birmingham against Arizona on December 13, a neutral-site game against Illinois in Chicago on November 19, multiple potential top-25 opponents in the Thanksgiving-week Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, a yet-to-be-announced game in the SEC/ACC challenge, and home games against Yale, North Dakota and potentially South Florida.
Alabama has 247 Sports’ No. 20 ranked transfer portal class, and is currently ranked No. 22 by Rothstein, No. 24 by Parrish, No. 24 by Borzello and No. 14 by Field of 68.
Alabama has played the nation’s hardest schedule the past two seasons, but coach Nate Oats said last month he would “evaluate” the difficulty of their non-conference schedules moving forward because of the increasing difficulty of the SEC schedule.
Nate Oats has a 1-1 record against Pitino-coached teams. Alabama defeated Pitino-coached Iona in the first round of the 2021 NCAA tournament, then lost to Iona the following November in the ESPN Events Invitational.
