Rutgers Basketball set to face off against Alabama, Houston and Notre Dame
Last week, it was announced that Rutgers Basketball would be one of eight programs to participate in the inaugural Players Era Tournament, an NIL based multi team event out in Las Vegas set to take place the week of Thanksgiving with games taking place on November 26th, 27th and 29th, thus giving teams Thanksgiving day off.
Now what makes this tournament unique is the fact that every program is set to be earning $1 million each per program with a chance to earn more should they win the event.
The event features an eight-team field separated into two different pods. The first grouping will feature Alabama, Houston, Notre Dame and Rutgers, while the second pod will consist of Creighton, Oregon, San Diego State and Texas A&M.
With that being said, let's take a look at the three other programs the Scarlet Knights will be facing off against later this year.
| TEAM | NET RANKING | KENPOM | ESPN BPI | T-RANK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Rutgers |
103 |
100 |
98 |
105 |
|
Alabama |
9 |
14 |
12 |
14 |
|
Houston |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
Notre Dame |
124 |
118 |
134 |
124 |
ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE....
ALL-TIME RECORD VERSUS ALABAMA: 0-1
KEY ADDITIONS...
-- PG Aden Holloway (No. 139 overall)
-- SG Houston Mallette (No. 59 overall)
-- SG Chris Youngblood (No. 88 overall)
-- C Clifford Omoruyi (No. 14 overall)
KEY LOSSES...
-- PG Kris Parker (TBD)
-- SG Rylan Griffen (Kansas)
-- SF Davin Cosby Jr. (Wake Forest)
-- PF Sam Walters (Michigan)
-- C Nick Pringle (South Carolina)
THE SKINNY: The most obvious tie here is the fact that former big man Clifford Omoruyi is now a part of the Crimson Tide's roster after spending the previous four years with the Scarlet Knights. Omoruyi meant a lot to the Rutgers fanbase, as he was one of the highest ranked recruits to ever sign with the Scarlet Knights and he helped lead them to their first NCAA Tournament appearance after a 30-year drought.
This will be the first time ever that Omoruyi has ever played for a team, whether that be high school or college located outside the state of New Jersey.
HOUSTON COUGARS....
ALL-TIME RECORD VERSUS HOUSTON: 1-3
KEY ADDITIONS...
-- PG Milos Uzan (No. 179 overall)
KEY LOSSES...
-- SG Damian Dunn (Pittsburgh)
THE SKINNY: Last time these two programs met was in the round of 32 of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, the then No. 10 seed Rutgers had the No. 2 seed Houston on the ropes late game as they were up by four points with less than two minutes left. However the Cougars would play some very good basketball down the stretch to win, thus eliminating the Scarlet Knights. The two programs haven't met since this game, so thus this matchup could be seen as a potential revenge game.
NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH....
ALL-TIME RECORD VERSUS NOTRE DAME: 13-21
KEY ADDITIONS:
-- PG Matt Allocco (No. 172 overall)
KEY LOSSES:
-- PG Alex Wade (TBD)
-- PF Carey Booth (Illinois)
-- C Matt Zona (Fordham)
THE SKINNY: There's quite a few different storylines in this one.
For starters, similar to the Houston matchup, Rutgers last met up against Notre Dame on the hardwood in the NCAA Tournament back in 2022. The first four game was a true back and forth as it took double overtime to decide the winner, with the Irish moving on to the next round.
On top of that, Notre Dame and Rutgers have a pretty extensive history of playing one another from their days as peers in the old Big East Conference.
Last but not least, the two programs have also been pitted against one another on the recruiting trail as Notre Dame was the landing spot of recent Rutgers target / Princeton transfer Matt Allocco. Plus if you recall a couple offseasons ago, Notre Dame was one of a couple schools that played a major role in getting a certain former Rutgers player to enter the Transfer Portal.
--------------------------------------------------------------
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel