With three games left in the regular season, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights are exactly where they want to be. After early season struggles, the team put themselves in a less than ideal spot to qualify for the NCAA tournament. But, after an impressive stretch of wins against some of the top Big Ten teams, Rutgers is now in a position where they control their own destiny. In fact, the rest of the season is perfect for what Rutgers does best.
Under the leadership of Steve Pikiell, Rutgers has had one of the best home records in the Big Ten conference. Since the 2019-2020 season, Rutgers has compiled a home record of 22-6 in Big Ten conference games (four losses were in 2021 when there was no crowd). In the last three games of this season, Rutgers will play two at home, one against Wisconsin and one against Penn State. Rutgers has won two of the last three at home against Wisconsin (the one loss being with no crowd), and beat Penn State in their last matchup, at home in 2020, by 11 points.
At the conclusion of the regular season, Rutgers will then head to Indianapolis for the Big Ten conference tournament. This is another comfortable situation for the Scarlet Knights. Since Steve Pikiell started coaching at Rutgers, the team has won at least one tournament game in every season, but one (not counting 2020 when no tournament games were played).
In fact, under Pikiell, Rutgers has played some of their best basketball in tournament play. This includes the historic run in 2018 when Corey Sanders and Geo Baker lit up Madison Square Garden by winning their first two games in the Big Ten tournament and then pushed Purdue to their absolute limit, before losing 82-75. Last year, Rutgers was one of the most impressive Big Ten teams in the NCAA tournament when they were just a play or two away from making the Sweet 16.
Right now, for Rutgers to guarantee their spot in the NCAA tournament, they will need to do what they do best. Win their home games, and win a Big Ten tournament game. During Pikiell's tenure at Rutgers, this is exactly what fans of Rutgers basketball have seen time and again. I don’t expect that to change.
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