Seton Hall is ending the 2019-20 college basketball season in almost the exact same place it started.
The Associated Press released its final Top 25 poll of the season on Wednesday, ranking Seton Hall No. 15 in the country. The Pirates opened the season ranked No. 12 in the poll, which was at the time the program’s highest preseason ranking since 2000.
Seton Hall was ranked 16 times in the AP’s 20 polls this season, which is the second-most rankings in program history behind the 1992-1993 team that was ranked 18 times. The Pirates climbed as high as No. 8 in the poll on March 2 and landed inside the Top 15 of the rankings 11 times.
Seton Hall finished the season 21-9 overall and 13-5 in Big East play. The Pirates earned a share of their first regular season conference title since 1993 and remained a mainstay in the Top 25 thanks to a loaded non-conference schedule that afforded them numerous resume-boosting wins.
The Hall defeated four AP Top 25 teams throughout the season beginning with No. 7 Maryland in December. The Pirates finished with 10 wins against NCAA NET “Quadrant 1” teams and seven road victories in Big East play.
In addition to Seton Hall’s No. 15 ranking in the AP poll, it also finished ranked No. 15 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, NCAA NET rankings and Sagarin rankings. The Pirates came in at No. 11 on KPI, No. 18 in the Strength of Record rankings, No. 20 on KenPom and No. 22 on the Basketball Power Index.
With the departures of Myles Powell, Quincy McKnight and Romaro Gill, Seton Hall is unlikely to be ranked in any preseason polls next season. However, with a core of Sandro Mamukelashvili, Jared Rhoden and Myles Cale returning, as well as the addition of Canisius transfer Takal Molson and a possible graduate transfer looming, the Pirates will have a chance to work their way back into the rankings as the 2020-2021 season progresses.
Tyler Calvaruso can be reached at tyler.calvaruso@student.shu.edu. Find him on Twitter @tyler_calvaruso.
