Bracketology 2023: Complete Bubble Watch before final weekend of regular season

Rutgers: 18-12 (10-9 in Big Ten) NET: 38

A few days after upsetting unbeaten Purdue on the road back in early January, Rutgers’ NET was at 14 and they were looking like a sure thing for the NCAA Tournament. A few months later, the Scarlet Knights are in a more precarious position after some rough performances in conference play. That win over the Boilermakers is one of their five Quad 1 victories, but their recent play has been more than concerning.

First of all, we can’t ignore the beginning of the season, with the Scarlet Knights dropping winnable games to Temple and Seton Hall early in the year. Losing at home to Nebraska isn’t great, nor was blowing a big lead late and losing on a buzzer-beater to Minnesota, which is exactly what they did this past Thursday. They could very easily be in that cluster of Big Ten teams at 11-8, vying for one of those double-byes in the conference tournament, but instead, they still have work to do.

They can finish a season sweep of Northwestern on Sunday and doing so would likely put them comfortably into the field. This is still regular season play, but that game with the Wildcats might have a postseason feel, with both teams needing to solidify their standing and their resumes with time running out. In all likelihood, Rutgers will be in the NCAA Tournament and should avoid the First Four, but their seed will be much lower than people expected after seeing them play Purdue two months ago.