The latest numbers for Rutgers men’s basketball ahead of their final two Big Ten regular season games are quite promising. In fact, Rutgers is rather heavily favored in both games to close out the regular season.
On Sunday, Rutgers got a huge 59-56 win over Penn State. It was an important win for Rutgers who are now 18-11 (10-8 Big Ten).
Rutgers has now won two of their last three games, an uptick in performance after three straight losses in Big Ten play that included a terrible home loss to Nebraska.
Here is the breakdown from the ESPN BPI (Basketball Power Index) for the final two Rutgers basketball games in the Big Ten regular season:
- February 2 at Minnesota (ESPN’s BPI has Rutgers at 89.7 percent to win)
- February 5 against Northwestern (ESPN’s BPI has Rutgers at 77.3 percent to win)
What does this all mean for the Scarlet Knights?
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Were Rutgers to close out the regular season with at least one, that probably is enough for the Scarlet Knights to book a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Two wins in their remaining two regular season games and Rutgers is looking at a likely bye in the first round of the upcoming Big Ten Tournament.
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This week, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi put Rutgers as a No. 9 seed in the West bracket where they would play No. 8 Missouri in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
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