Rutgers And Washington Should Score Plenty Tonight

Rutgers vs. Washington, 10:30 ET

There are a lot of games on the slate tonight. By a lot, I mean there are over 50 games for us to choose from. Picking just two games to share my opinions on is always a challenge. Do I go with the only plays I have on ranked teams? Do I go with the plays I feel are best? Do I pick teams that have the best interest? I try to provide a bit of a balance here as the general public will mostly just watch whatever game is broadcast nationally. In this case, I'm focused on a game that I think we have good value on as Rutgers travels to take on Washington. 

Rutgers is not having a very good season and won't be seeing much action in March. They certainly won't make the NCAA Tournament, and although I'm not quite as familiar with the NIL tournament qualifications, I'd be a bit surprised to see them there. Rutgers comes into tonight's contest with a 12-14 record for the season and a lot of struggle in the Big 10 with a 5-10 record in conference play. It comes with the territory of their record, but they are just 2-6 over the past eight games. Their wins were a bit surprising as they beat Illinois, but the Fighting Illini really shouldn't be described as Fighting lately. They also beat Northwestern on the road. Their most recent losses have come against Michigan and Iowa in home games, and on the road against Maryland and Oregon. What really is surprising about this is that Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper are both on this Rutgers team. Bailey and Harper have both been looked at as if they would be top players in the NBA Draft. Having two of them on your team should lead to more wins, but really this has been mostly just showcasing their scoring abilities. 

Ohio State Buckeyes guard Ques Glover (6) cuts to the basket around Washington Huskies guard Zoom Diallo (9) and center Franck Kepnang (11) during the NCAA men's basketball game at Value City Arena in Columbus on Feb. 13, 2025. Ohio State won 93-69.

Washington comes into this game without really any NBA Draft lottery candidate and they have put up a remarkably similar campaign to that of Rutgers. They are above .500 with a 13-12 record for the year, but they sit in 16th for the Big 10. Their record is at just 4-10 in the conference. It is probably easier to list the wins than it is the losses that Washington has suffered this year. They have beaten Maryland at home, Minnestota and Penn State on the road, and Northwestern at home. All of their wins this season have been close games, at least in conference games. Their four wins have been by a combined 16 points. I wouldn't really call them a deep team, but they do run eight guys out for around 17 minutes or more per game. There is another one that also has played about 17 minutes a game, but he was only in eight contests. That was their center, and he has been in his past six games, so I think he should be playing in this one. At least this gives the team a bit of height. 

In a matchup where there are two teams that are pretty evenly matched, it usually makes sense to take the team at home. I'm not sure that it is the best bet here. Washington hasn't been great at home. Rutgers hasn't been great on the road either. I mean, in reality neither team has been great period. I do think that Rutgers could win this one, but the way the offenses have been playing lately the smarter move is to take the over. Neither is great at defense, and both should have plenty of opportunities to score. In the last five games for Rutgers, they would've gone over the total in three out of five. Washington would've gone over in just two out of five, but this seems like it should be an over. 

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