It’s not just St. John’s: As March Madness opens, the Big Apple has championship hopes in both the men’s and women’s tournaments — and not just in Division I.
Of course, the city’s loudly rallying behind the Red Storm, led by head coach and native New Yorker Rick Pitino and poised for a deep run.
The Big East champs and Big East Player of the Year, R.J. Luis Jr., are the No. 2 seed in the West Region, opening Thursday against the University of Nebraska Omaha in Providence.
Over on the women’s side, the Columbia University’s Lions (23-6) make their second straight NCAA tournament appearance; the Ivy League champs square off first against the University of Washington Huskies in Chapel Hill, NC.
The Lions are 11-seed; root for a magical Cinderella run.
Meanwhile, over in the NCAA Division III tournaments, the No. 1 ranked New York University men’s and women’s teams are Final Four-bound.
The 29-0 NYU women — defending national champions — take their remarkable 60-game winning streak to the University of Wisconsin-Stout in the National Semifinal in Salem, Va.; the men play Washington University in their National Semifinal in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Let’s pull for all these outstanding student athletes.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
