Rutgers basketball got back on the winning track on Thursday night, putting together a thorough and complete performance with a Big Ten win against Michigan.
The win, in addition to snapping a three-game losing streak, certainly has postseason implications as well. Rutgers is now 15-13 (7-10 Big Ten) following their impressive 82-52 win over Michigan.
It keeps their slim NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
To get back into the NCAA Tournament, Rutgers is going to have to sweep their remaining three Big Ten regular season games. On top of that, they would likely need at minimum on win in the Big Ten Tournament.
(In all likelihood, they would need their final three Big Ten regular season games and two conference tournament wins to pad their NCAA Tournament resume).
But first things first, Rutgers needs three wins from their final three Big Ten regular season games.
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ESPN’s outlook for Rutgers getting those three wins is not encouraging, even after Thursday’s dominating performance against Michigan. ESPN Analytics favors Rutgers in just one of their three remaining games:
- March 1 @ Nebraska (ESPN is projecting Rutgers at 16.5 percent to win)
- March 7 @ Wisconsin (ESPN is projecting Rutgers at 6.9 percent to win)
- March 10 vs. Ohio State (ESPN is projecting Rutgers at 60.5 percent to win)
Two wins might be enough, however, to get Rutgers basketball into the NIT for a second straight year. Given the rebuild of the roster from a season ago, it certainly would be a big accomplishment for the Scarlet Knights to simply be back in the postseason.
Scroll down and check out the best photos from Thursday night as Rutgers basketball got a huge Big Ten win against Michigan!