Rutgers (0-6 in Quad 1 Opportunities)
I know, I'm breaking my own rule about needing to be ranked in the top 80 of the NET rankings and in the NCAA tournament conversation to make this list. However, I feel like the Scarlet Knights deserve a mention here. To be clear, this team has massively underperformed relative to expectations up to this point in the season; Rutgers started out as a ranked AP top 25 team and was expected to be a force in the Big Ten.
Instead, they currently stand at 8-8 with a 1-4 conference record. They rank 91st in both the NET rankings and on KenPom. They have two Quad 3 losses (to Kennesaw State and Princeton) on their resume that will hurt them when the committee gathers to make their selections.
The reason I felt the need to include them? In a word, potential. Rutgers has two players projected to be drafted in the top three of the 2025 NBA draft. Very few other college teams can boast that kind of talent on them. While it clearly hasn't translated into wins thus far, if the whole team ever gets on the same page they will be a force in the second half of the season. It's also worth noting that Rutgers ranks 291st in KenPoms "luck" rankings; in essence, KenPom is saying that for their level of play, they've been unlucky to only have an 8-8 record.
Rutgers will have to hope their luck changes soon, however; their next eight games in a row are all Quad 1 games. We should know pretty soon if Rutgers is going to climb into the NCAA tournament conversation or fall completely out of it.
Next Quad 1 Opportunity: Home vs UCLA on 1/13