St. John’s Basketball Announce Big East Opener With DePaul

The St. John's Red Storm will start their Big East schedule against the DePaul Blue Demons.

Feb 3, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; St. John's Red Storm guard Ian Jackson (11) drives to the basket against DePaul Blue Demons center Fabian Flores (15) during the first half at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Slowly but surely, the 2026-27 men’s basketball schedule for the St. John’s Red Storm is being revealed.

St. John’s announced three exhibition games that will be played before the campaign gets underway. So far, only three non-conference games are confirmed, starting with a trip to the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas on Nov. 24 against the Oregon Ducks. At least two games will be played there.

On Dec. 5, the Arizona Wildcats are coming to New York, and on Dec. 12, the Red Storm are traveling south to face the Alabama Crimson Tide.

A few of their Big East games have also been revealed. The latest is the opener to their conference, which will be St. John’s hosting the DePaul Blue Demons at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 19.

St. John's will open Big East schedule against DePaul on Dec. 19

Feb 3, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; St. John's Red Storm guard Joson Sanon (3) drives to the basket against DePaul Blue Demons guard RJ Smith (5) during the first half at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

As shared by college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein, the league opener will be a night game because the CBS Sports Classic will be played at MSG that afternoon. That will be a busy day for college basketball fans in New York.

At noon, the Ohio State Buckeyes are playing against the Kansas Jayhawks. Following that contest, the North Carolina Tar Heels will face the Kentucky Wildcats.

To ensure there is enough time between the games to get the arena set up for a Red Storm home game, it is fair to assume the start time may not be until 8:30 p.m. ET.

Whatever decision is made, it is clear that the influence head coach Rick Pitino has on the program is legitimate. One of his goals this season was to play all the team’s Big East home games at Madison Square Garden, and he seems to be getting his wish.

Source: St. John's will play all 10 of its Big East games at MSG during the 2026-27 season, starting with its league opener against DePaul on Saturday, December 19th.

This will be an evening game since the CBS Sports Classic is being played during the day on 12/19.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) September 11, 2026

This is going to be the third consecutive campaign that the Red Storm will start their conference schedule against the Blue Demons. It is a great opportunity for St. John’s to get off on the right foot in Big East play because Pitino has not lost to DePaul in his tenure with the program, going 6-0 thus far.

Along with the Blue Demons matchup, the Red Storm also know when they will be facing their biggest challenger to the back-to-back Big East titles they own: the UConn Huskies.

The first matchup is set for Jan. 29 and will be played at Madison Square Garden. St. John’s will head on the road to Storrs for their second matchup on March 2nd in what will likely be one of their final regular-season games of the campaign.