NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ – The Rutgers men’s basketball team finished 10th out of 14 teams in the NCAA’s Big Ten conference. The Scarlet Knights had a 10-10 conference record and ended their season just five games over .500 with am 19-14 overall record.
Many Rutgers diehards were upset over the news, feeling the Scarlet Knights were ‘snubbed’ from the tournament.
In Phil Murphy’s New Jersey, everyone is included. His fair an equitable policies are aimed at given the guys at the bottom a chance to reach the top.
In NCAA basketball, the reality is only the best teams advance, and Rutgers, despite beating No. ranked Purdue during the season and falling short by just a few points to the top dog in the Big 10 tournament, they weren’t one of the best teams.
In their own conference, they weren’t even in the top 10. They just barely made the top 10 by one game. The reality is not everyone gets a trophy outside of Phil Murphy’s progressive New Jersey. It’s been a hard pill for Governor Phil Murphy to swallow this week.
“#35 in KenPom rankings. Beat #1 seed Purdue on the road and nearly beat them again two days ago. And won against a number of strong teams during the season,” Murphy said on Twitter. “Rutgers should have made the Tourney. Period. Full stop.”
During the season, Rutgers lost some games, had they won, it might have been part of March Madness. They lost 75-54 to the 2-17 Minnesota Golden Gophers on March 2nd, a team they trounced 90-55 earlier in the season.
They lost to lower-ranked Ohio State, .500 Temple, Nebraska, and Seton Hall. Their victories came against teams like Columbia, Sacred Heart, UMass Lowell, Central CT, Rider, Wake Forest, and Bucknell.
Nowhere in their season does an upset over Purdue and a strong showing against 19th-ranked Indiana punch your ticket to the NCAA tournament.
Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell was a bit more realistic in his assessment.
“A tough day; our goal every year is to go every year to the NCAA Tournament. It felt like we certainly did enough. It’s a tough job; the selection committee has,” Pikiell said.
Instead, Rutgers goes into the National Invitational Tournament as the No. 1 seed and will host Hofstra Tomorrow night.