Rick Pitino has the stronger recent claim to the Big East. Dan Hurley has the stronger recent claim to April. Picking between them gets interesting when you stop treating those as the same argument.
Ahead of the 2026-27 NCAA Division I men's season, St. John's and UConn give their fans plenty to argue about. The Red Storm has swept the Big East regular-season and tournament titles in consecutive years. The Huskies reached the 2026 national championship game. Both have major players to replace.
The question for this debate is narrower than which coach has the better lifetime résumé: Who would you take to win the Big East in 2026-27? Nate Calloway takes Pitino. Sam Whitlock takes Hurley.
Three meetings, two very different answers
The official game accounts show why neither side gets to declare the matchup solved.
| 2025-26 meeting | Result | What decided the argument that night |
|---|---|---|
| February 6, Madison Square Garden | St. John's 81, UConn 72 | St. John's attempted 31 free throws to UConn's 12. |
| February 25, Hartford | UConn 72, St. John's 40 | UConn committed five turnovers and won the paint 42-12. |
| March 14, Big East final, MSG | St. John's 72, UConn 52 | St. John's turned UConn's 17 turnovers into 24 points. |
St. John's won the season series 2-1. UConn delivered its most lopsided result. The useful basketball question is whether the Huskies can keep possessions intact against Pitino's team, then finish them. Hartford supplies the case that they can. The conference final supplies the warning.
Nate Calloway: The case for Pitino
I'd start with the coach whose team keeps winning the competition we're discussing.
Consecutive title sweeps take more than a good Saturday at the Garden. St. John's has sustained a league campaign and then won the tournament. Those are different assignments, and Pitino has handled both.
The conference final also gives his argument some teeth. UConn's official box score lists 17 turnovers for the Huskies and eight for St. John's. The Red Storm's advantage in points off turnovers was 24-10. That is a substantial cost before you even start comparing shooting nights.
But I cannot hand last year's trophy to this year's roster. The Big East's August check-in lists Zuby Ejiofor, Bryce Hopkins and Dillon Mitchell among the departures. Pitino has to rebuild the frontcourt that helped make his case.
What interests me is his change at guard. In that same interview, Pitino acknowledged that trying to make Ian Jackson a point guard was a staff mistake. He described Jackson moving to shooting guard and praised newcomer Quinn Ellis as a creator for teammates.
That is a specific adjustment worth watching. If Ellis can organize the offense and Jackson can spend more possessions looking to score, St. John's may have a cleaner division of responsibilities. Summer praise is not proof it works. It is a better reason for optimism than expecting the new players to reproduce Ejiofor's team by force of personality.
Sam Whitlock: The case for Hurley
Pitino deserves the Big East credit. I still prefer Hurley's starting point for the next race.
The Hartford win matters because UConn did more than survive pressure. It protected the ball, scored inside and held St. John's without a field goal for the final 17:28. A 32-point loss belongs in the Pitino argument just as surely as the Garden victories do.
Then came the national tournament. St. John's finished 30-7 after an 80-75 Sweet 16 loss to Duke. UConn finished 34-6 after losing the championship game to Michigan, 69-63. Hurley's official coaching record includes the 2023 and 2024 national titles. His teams have repeatedly found a way through a much larger field.
That does not award UConn the next league championship. My reason to pick the Huskies is closer to the ball: Silas Demary Jr. and Braylon Mullins return, according to the Big East's UConn check-in. Returning guards give Hurley something to organize around while the frontcourt changes.
There are real losses. Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr. departed, and the conference reports that Solo Ball will miss 2026-27 with a wrist injury. Hurley is looking to newcomers including Nik Khamenia and Na'jai Hines. He described Khamenia's all-around offensive skills and Hines' screening, rebounding and rim protection as reasons for bringing them in.
Those are intended roles, not guaranteed replacements. Still, I'd rather begin this particular race with Demary and Mullins than ask a new lead guard to learn the team while the team learns him.
The rebuttals and the picks
Nate: Sam is right about the returning guards. He is giving them too much credit for a result they have not delivered yet. Pitino's recent league record is the strongest evidence in this debate. I'd take St. John's to win the Big East, with Ellis' ability to settle the offense as the biggest test of my pick.
Sam: Nate is right about the trophies. The players who earned them are the reason I will not simply roll the result forward. I'd take UConn for 2026-27 because I prefer its returning backcourt, provided the new frontcourt can protect those possessions and finish them.
These are September picks, not reported odds or claims that either roster is settled. The first thing to watch when they meet is simple: how often does UConn get the shot it intended to take?
For more on the people shaping these programs, see Luke Murray's first recruiting steps at Boston College, after his move from UConn, and CBR's Class of 2027 top ten.
