2024-2025 College Basketball Preview: Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Check out our entire college basketball season preview!

The college basketball season is less than three weeks away, and here at FTN Fantasy we have you covered for what promises to be another thrilling year of upsets and incredible finishes. I will be taking you around the country with a betting preview of the major conferences. I recap the betting trends from last season, list projected starters, preview the season, identify a key player, and reveal how I’m backing or fading each team.

Let’s continue with the largest conference in college basketball, the Big Ten. This conference underwent massive changes, adding four new teams from the Pac-12 in Washington, USC, Oregon and UCLA. The expansion has not diluted the competitive level of the Big Ten, ranking third (same as last year) in KenPom preseason rankings.

Let’s check out our betting preview for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. I give a huge shout-out to our newest contributor, Gus Kearns, for his extensive research on the Big Ten.

2024-2025 College Basketball Season Preview: Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Conference: Big Ten
Head Coach: Steve Pikiell (9th season)
2023-2024 Record: 15-17 (7-13)
ATS: 13-19
O/U: 10-22
Projected Starters: G Dylan Harper; G Jeremiah Williams; G Ace Bailey; F Zach Martini; F Emmanuel Ogbole

Fellow FTN contributor Gus Kearns coined the term “Law of Efforts.” The more a team has to “scratch and claw” to get results, the precipice crash is inevitable. Head coach Steve Pikiell has done a remarkable job transforming the Scarlet Knights from a joke to a consistent force inside the Big Ten. After four straight seasons of 16 or more wins and a .500 or better conference record, Rutgers fell to 15-17 overall last year. One of the poorest shooting teams in the nation (43.5% effective field goal percentage), Rutgers even struggled to rebound those misses, and their elite top-20 turnover margin couldn’t help save the season. Help is now on the way, via one of the best rosters in the Big Ten. It starts with a legendary recruiting class that ranked fifth best per 247Sports. Yes, I wrote fifth best overall.

The Scarlet Knights are hoping the freshman duo of 6-foot-7 Dylan Harper and 6-foot-10 Ace Bailey are two of the best players in the entire nation. Harper is an NBA-ready, jumbo offensive initiator, while Bailey is an athletic, tough-shot specialist. The complimentary cast will fold in neatly, led by senior Jeremiah Williams (12.2 PPG, 1.2 SPG) who didn’t join the team until February after an Achilles injury. Transfer guards Jordan Derkack (Merrimack, 17 PPG) and Tyson Acuff (Eastern Michigan, 21 PPG) along with forwards PJ Hayes II (San Diego, 40% 3P) and Zach Martini (Princeton, 39% 3P) fill out Pikiell’s Jenga-puzzle schematic of Big Ten success.

Key Player: Tyson Acuff

Rutgers always plays defense at an elite level but needs to find offensive consistency to return to March Madness. Acuff was an elite bucket-getter at Eastern Michigan, leading the conference with 21.7 PPG, ranking eighth nationally. He made his free throws (81.1%) and posted 25 or more points in eight games. If Acuff’s production translates to even 15 PPG in the Big Ten, the postseason projections become much more secure.

Projection