NCAA Basketball: Oregon, Miami, Rutgers and Seton Hall headline Sunday Mailbag

Who are 2 or 3 teams picked to finish worse than fourth in major conferences who could surprise? – Tom Schuster (@tjsdomer2)

There were two teams who immediately came to mind when this question was asked. The teams reside in the Big Ten and the Big East. You may be able to figure out who they are and if you checked out my rankings you would be able to see how high I am on each team and go against most pundits’ rankings of these teams. Those teams are the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Seton Hall Pirates. I believe both teams are going to be much better than people think, and both should comfortably make the tournament. So, of course, let’s save this answer and make sure that we come back to it when both teams are either in the tournament or have no chance.

Why Rutgers?  I believe in Steve Pikiell he has built a team and a program that knows its identity. The Scarlet Knights play smothering defense, are physical, and rebound the ball well. Rutgers was picked in the middle tier of the Big Ten because of the production they lost in Ron Harper Jr. and Geo Baker but Rutgers still has a ton of players they can win with.

They have the Big Ten defensive player of the year in Caleb McConnell who can guard every position and shut down everyone he defends. The Scarlet Knights have a big dominant center in Cliff Omoruyi and a point guard in Paul Mulcahy who is a stat sheet stuffer who rarely turns the ball over. They have everything you need to win games.

To take this a step further the Scarlet Knights have been together for a while and they know how to win games. They also have one of the best home court advantages in the Big Ten. The RAC gets hopping when Rutgers is at home. Rutgers probably won’t win 20 games as they have yet to get to that mark under Pikell, but pencil Rutgers in for wins over a lot of the top teams in the league at home. The Scarlet Knights do need to avoid losing to the bad teams on the road, but they should still win enough games against good teams it won’t matter. Don’t be surprised if Rutgers finishes in the top 4 of the Big Ten again.

Now we get to Seton Hall. I am way higher on Seton Hall than almost everyone and there is a good reason for it. The Pirates are coached by a New Jersey basketball legend in Shaheen Holloway. Holloway, as we all know by now, came from Saint Peter’s where he consistently had the Peacocks outplaying their rankings. Seton Hall also has assembled a roster with a lot of different pieces from the transfer portal.

So, it may take a bit to gel but once the Pirates get it going, they might be tough to beat in the league. The defense is going to be real, it’s going to be physical; they are going to shoot a ton of threes and play slow. Seton Hall may be undersized, but coach Holloway was able to bring with him the two-time MAAC defensive player of the year in KC Ndefo.

Ndefo can protect the rim and is an elite rebounder. He isn’t going to score much but he brings so much else. The one thing that cannot be understated is how comfortable he is running Holloway’s system. The system isn’t overly tough to master but there will always be a learning curve with a new coach and a new roster. Ndefo will hopefully accelerate the learning for his teammates. Seton Hall is likely a long shot given that the Big East is loaded especially at the top but I really like their roster and I love their head coach.