The Latest on Rutgers Basketball's 2025-26 Schedule
Tracking all of the confirmed out of conference games thus far for the 2025-26 Rutgers Basketball program ahead of the season.
Rutgers Basketball adds Delaware St, Rider to OOC schedule
- Thread starter Richie O
- Start date
And Central Connecticut State
So ...Tennessee, Notre Dame and TBD in Vegas
Seton Hall at the Rock
7 cupcakes at the RAC (I'm assuming Penn is a cupcake, not sure what their roster looks like this year...them having Fran scares me though).
I think that's what the majority wanted
So ...Tennessee, Notre Dame and TBD in Vegas
Seton Hall at the Rock
7 cupcakes at the RAC (I'm assuming Penn is a cupcake, not sure what their roster looks like this year...them having Fran scares me though).
I think that's what the majority wanted
Well .. that is 9 seemingly likely wins, all at home. I always enjoy home wins.
And very possible wins versus SHU (even on the road) and ND (even on neutral). Not gimmies for RU, but possible.
That is 9-11 expected wins before conference play even starts. Which already is more wins than some on this Board have been expecting. Or I am nuts and the team will be that bad.
When looking at the Big Ten schedule, I think it is not unreasonable to look at it this way:
Home only: Nebraska, NW and Washington seem very realistic as home win possibilities. Nobody has any idea how good or bad Indiana or Ohio St will be, so even if not likely wins, also not likely losses at home. Purdue and Oregon are likely tough match ups.
Home and Away: Not unreasonable to expect a home win vs Penn St, and to hope for a home win vs Maryland - Michigan St? Seems unlikely at this stage. Unlikely to win on the road vs Maryland or Michigan St - Penn State? Maybe.
Away Only: Always tough in the Big Ten. Iowa and Minnesota are huge questions marks as teams, so maybe swing games. Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin always seem to be bad match ups on the road. UV}CLA and USC ? Who knows.
So ... even with a worrisome roster for RU this season, I think it reasonable to expect at least 4 home wins, with another 3 home games as swing games ... and that at least 4 road games are swing games.
Overall Big Ten: 4 reasonable likely wins, 7 swing games ... and that does not assume the random odd home upset out of the blue. I see a potential path to 7 or 8 Big Ten wins, which likely means RU makes the Big Ten tourney, beating expectations.
Overall Season: If RU gets 7-8 Big Ten wins and 9-11 OOC wins ... that is 16 wins at the lower (yes, not worst case or lowest case) end and 19 wins at the upper end ... BTW, with that schedule and the games penciled in as likely wins, that is NOT an NCAA resume IMO, even 19 wins - heck that is probably not even a BUBBLE team - the schedule is just too weak.
I would not expect 19 wins - I think 16 is reasonable to hope for, however, maybe 17. I just see a path to 16-19 wins. 16-15 means a better record than last season or the season before, FYI.
I’m thinking worst case (absolute disaster) is 13-14 wins and best case is 17-18 wins. It probably falls in the middle. Some people said RU would be EJ bad and win less than 10.
Pike needed this kind of schedule to try and restore hope that he’ll be here for several more years. It gives him a chance to at least play meaningful games in February and with any luck be around 15 wins fighting for a post season bid assuming they sweep the 7 buy games at home, 2-2/1-3amongst Vegas and Seton Hall, 6-14/7-13 in Big Ten play, and he gets to 15 wins.
if the team is better than any of us anticipate, a high water mark is likely 17 wins
if the team is better than any of us anticipate, a high water mark is likely 17 wins
