Rutgers Basketball: 2024-25 season preview for the Scarlet Knights

Schedule Outlook

Rutgers will be easing into this highly-anticipated season with four straight games at home to start. The Scarlet Knights open against Wagner before playing Saint Peter's, Monmouth, and Merrimack. A road game at Kennesaw State should see the Scarlet Knights start 5-0.

Things get interesting after that with the NIL-based Players Era tourament in Las Vegas. The first two opponents Rutgers will face are Notre Dame and Alabama, where a reunion with Omoruyi and one of the best teams in the nation awaits. From there, Rutgers will face one more team in a newly-added championship game - other teams in the tournament include Houston, San Diego State, Creighton, Oregon, and Texas A&M.

The rest of the nonconference schedule looks manageable. There's a home game against Columbia and a neutral site contest with Princeton. The only other scary opponent is Seton Hall, but that game will be in Piscataway.

As for the conference schedule, the Big Ten is as stacked as ever, especially with the addition of USC, UCLA, Washington, and Oregon. There are some 9 p.m. ET tip times, but only one later than that (a February game at Washington begins at 10:30 p.m.).

In terms of any West Coast swings, it comes in mid-February. The aforementioned trip to Washington is preceded by a game at Oregon. USC and UCLA are both being christened in the terradome that is Jersey Mike's Arena.

In terms of key stretches, it will be critical for Rutgers to come out strong when the calendar turns to 2025. The first four games in 2025: at Indiana, vs. Wisconsin, vs. Purdue, and vs. UCLA. That's a gauntlet, though it's good three of the four come at home.

Right after that is another interesting stretch. Two road games, a Madison Square Garden tilt against Michigan State, and another road contest. After Jan. 13, Rutgers won't be back home again until February.