With the 2025-26 college basketball season set to tip off on Monday night, one dominant storyline figures to be the rivalry between No. 4 UConn and No. 5 St. John’s.

Big East coaches gave Naismith Hall of Famer Rick Pitino and the Red Storm the nod as slight favorites to win the regular-season title over Dan Hurley and the Huskies.

The two teams will meet at least twice this season - Feb. 6 at Madison Square Garden and Feb. 25 in Hartford - and could meet again in the Big East Tournament and possibly the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re both fighting for the same things, so it’s tension. There’s tension,” Hurley told John Fanta in a video interview. “We’re both fighting for the same thing.”

He added: “You wanna play games like that, you wanna play games that people are going to be dying

See Full Page