For the first time in the Chris Mullin (head-coaching) era, St. John’s is ranked.

The Johnnies will enter Tuesday’s showdown with Villanova at the Finneran Pavilion as the No. 24 team in the country, cracking the AP Top 25 poll Monday after a four-year absence.

“Historically, that’s what St. John’s is,” Mullin said Monday in a phone interview shortly after the rankings were released. “To me it’s just a natural progression. Not a whole lot of emphasis on that, but it’s a nice little recognition.”

St. John’s also came in at No. 23 in the USA Today Sports Coaches Poll after not having been ranked in either poll since Jan. 5, 2015, when it was 11-3 in Steve Lavin’s last season before Mullin took over.

Saturday’s comeback overtime win against Georgetown secured the Johnnies’ spot in the latest poll, sending them into Tuesday’s meeting with Villanova flying high at 14-1 overall and 2-1 in the Big East.

“We’ve come a long way and worked hard to reach this point, but we have a not-satisfied attitude,” redshirt junior guard Justin Simon said. “We definitely want to keep going, keep winning and keep climbing the numbers.”

Junior guard Shamorie Ponds helped lift St. John’s over the top, combining for 63 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds and six steals in his past two games to earn Big East Player of the Week honors Monday.

While the Wildcats (11-4, 2-0) are currently unranked — first among other teams receiving votes in the AP poll as they climb their way back from losses to Furman and Penn — they are still the defending national champions after winning it all for the second time in three years last April.

With returning starters Phil Booth and Eric Paschall leading the way, they remain the team to beat in the Big East.

“I think everybody in this conference sees them as the top dog and is ready to knock them off whenever, just because how dominant they’ve been the past couple years,” Simon said.

The Johnnies will get their shot Tuesday. They stunned No. 1 Villanova last season after starting off Big East play 0-11, but both sides have changed plenty since then.

“It’s a totally different team for us and for them,” Simon said. “It’s going to be a totally different game than it was last year.”