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Bracketology 2023: 5 games to help sort out Big Ten Basketball this week

By Jason Burgess

Jan 11, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; The Big Ten logo on the floor at the Kohl Center before the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Purdue Boilermakers. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 11, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; The Big Ten logo on the floor at the Kohl Center before the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Purdue Boilermakers. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports /
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Bracketology Rutgers Scarlet Knights Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports /

Rutgers at Michigan State

Thursday, January 19, East Lansing, MI, 6:30 PM ET, FS1

Year in and year out playing at Rutgers is one of the toughest places to play in the country, but questions arise when the Scarlet Knights travel. So far this season that has again been the case as they are 11-2 at the RAC and 2-2 away from the friendly confines. Thursday night they have another chance to get the road monkey off their back when they travel to East Lansing to take on Michigan State.

After winning two key games last week against Northwestern and Ohio State, Clifford Omoryuri and company can concentrate on the Spartans being their only game this week. Rutgers has excelled since the calendar turned to 2023 going 4-1 including wins over Purdue, Maryland, and Ohio State. In order to stay in the NCAA tournament conversation, a big win especially on the road is paramount here. As for the Spartans, they currently sit at 12-5 and 4-2 in the Big Ten standings.

There may not be another game on the Big Ten schedule this week where both teams need a win in a bad way than this one. Michigan State’s victories have an average NET ranking of 138 and Rutgers is even further down the list at 169. When you look at the metrics for these two teams, they are completely opposite. The results-based metrics like the Spartans a little more than the predictive ones thanks to that non-conference slate, but the Scarlet Knights are in the top 14 in all three predictive metrics but outside the top 30 in both KPI and SOR.

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