Basketball Rutgers Basketball set to play exhibition against Villanova

[Richie O]

Rutgers Basketball set to play exhibition against Villanova

Rutgers Basketball is set to take on Villanova in a preseason exhibition this upcoming Fall prior to the 2026-27 season.

www.on3.com

 

[Anon1751565407]

Oct 11 is very soon.

 

[JL23]

Any info how the tickets will work (e.g. will STH have right of first refusal on their current seats)?

 

[Richie O]

Any info how the tickets will work (e.g. will STH have right of first refusal on their current seats)?

I would assume probably not, but can’t say for certain just yet. STH might get first dibs on purchasing, but that’s prob it if I had to guess.

 

[RUfan1977]

I would assume probably not, but can’t say for certain just yet. STH might get first dibs on purchasing, but that’s prob it if I had to guess.

It’s only an exhibition game. Decent seats shouldn’t be that hard to get although if you are a season ticket holder with great seats, I can see why you wouldn’t want not so great seats.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Am I off base in thinking the addition of this exhibition game, on top of the one at MSG vs St Johns can only be interpreted as a sign Pike is feeling reasonably confident about what the team is looking like thus far?

Now this said - Pike’s pre-season judgement should, of course, be taken with a grain of salt after “Best Team Ever” translated into an opening week OT scare vs Lehigh followed shortly thereafter by a loss to Lafayette. But if we’re looking like we’ll be similar to last year where we didn’t even belong in the same gym with the top teams, I can’t imagine Pike would agree to a second one of these games.

 

[Richie O]

Am I off base in thinking the addition of this exhibition game, on top of the one at MSG vs St Johns can only be interpreted as a sign Pike is feeling reasonably confident about what the team is looking like thus far?

Now this said - Pike’s pre-season judgement should, of course, be taken with a grain of salt after “Best Team Ever” translated into an opening week OT scare vs Lehigh followed shortly thereafter by a loss to Lafayette. But if we’re looking like we’ll be similar to last year where we didn’t even belong in the same gym with the top teams, I can’t imagine Pike would agree to a second one of these games.

I wouldn't read too much into it like that, they've played plenty of exhibitions against St. John's in the past.

• 2017 - Rutgers 80, St. John’s 78 - The RAC
• 2023 - St. John’s 89, Rutgers 78 (2OT) - Carnesecca
• 2024 - St. John’s 91, Rutgers 85 - RAC
• 2026 - St. John’s, Rutgers - MSG

This is more about St. John's, as they are looking to play at MSG as much as possible going forward.

As for other scrimmages, Rutgers played Villanova in 2021, UNC and UConn in 2022, DePaul and St. John's in 2023, St. John's and Towson in 2024, and Towson and La Salle in 2025.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

I wouldn't read too much into it like that, they've played plenty of exhibitions against St. John's in the past.

• 2017 - Rutgers 80, St. John’s 78 - The RAC
• 2023 - St. John’s 89, Rutgers 78 (2OT) - Carnesecca
• 2024 - St. John’s 91, Rutgers 85 - RAC
• 2026 - St. John’s, Rutgers - MSG

This is more about St. John's, as they are looking to play at MSG as much as possible going forward.

As for other scrimmages, Rutgers played Villanova in 2021, UNC and UConn in 2022, DePaul and St. John's in 2023, St. John's and Towson in 2024, and Towson and La Salle in 2025.

Oh I get that we’ve scheduled games like this before. But have we ever penciled in not one but TWO public exhibitions against preseason Top 26 teams? (ESPN has Nova at 26).

Secret scrimmage are very different. This would theoretically have potential to be a major hype killer if hypothetically we were to take a pair of 25+ point poundings, no? Both of these games will have public media coverage (even though they are exhibition). I get that if we keep it close it doesn’t mean anything - but if we can’t even compete against unloaded benches this could be a preseason hype disaster which would be the last thing we would need.

Zinn wants butts in the seats correct? For perspective, unless we beat Houston, we won’t even face a top 50 team until conference play and Seton Hall is probably the only other top 100 team we’ll see early in a real game. The St Johns game at MSG I get - but scheduling a second potential bloodbath against Nova seems like a pretty big risk unless Pike is feeling reasonably positive.

Note also - SJU was nowhere near as good when we scheduled games against them back in 2017 (they were coming off a 14 win season) and in 2022-24 we didn’t project to be anywhere near as bad as we do now. And even then - we didn’t schedule 2 of these public games - only one…

 

[Richie O]

Oh I get that we’ve scheduled games like this before. But have we ever penciled in not one but TWO public exhibitions against preseason Top 26 teams? (ESPN has Nova at 26).

Secret scrimmage are very different. This would theoretically have potential to be a major hype killer if hypothetically we were to take a pair of 25+ point poundings, no? Both of these games will have public media coverage (even though they are exhibition). I get that if we keep it close it doesn’t mean anything - but if we can’t even compete against unloaded benches this could be a preseason hype disaster which would be the last thing we would need.

Zinn wants butts in the seats correct? For perspective, unless we beat Houston, we won’t even face a top 50 team until conference play and Seton Hall is probably the only other top 100 team we’ll see early in a real game. The St Johns game at MSG I get - but scheduling a second potential bloodbath against Nova seems like a pretty big risk unless Pike is feeling reasonably positive.

Note also - SJU was nowhere near as good when we scheduled games against them back in 2017 (they were coming off a 14 win season) and in 2022-24 we didn’t project to be anywhere near as bad as we do now. And even then - we didn’t schedule 2 of these public games - only one…

Rumor is they lost to LaSalle last year fwiw.

Overall I wouldn't read too much into it at all.

 

[needmorecowbell]

Oh I get that we’ve scheduled games like this before. But have we ever penciled in not one but TWO public exhibitions against preseason Top 26 teams? (ESPN has Nova at 26).

Secret scrimmage are very different. This would theoretically have potential to be a major hype killer if hypothetically we were to take a pair of 25+ point poundings, no? Both of these games will have public media coverage (even though they are exhibition). I get that if we keep it close it doesn’t mean anything - but if we can’t even compete against unloaded benches this could be a preseason hype disaster which would be the last thing we would need.

Zinn wants butts in the seats correct? For perspective, unless we beat Houston, we won’t even face a top 50 team until conference play and Seton Hall is probably the only other top 100 team we’ll see early in a real game. The St Johns game at MSG I get - but scheduling a second potential bloodbath against Nova seems like a pretty big risk unless Pike is feeling reasonably positive.

Note also - SJU was nowhere near as good when we scheduled games against them back in 2017 (they were coming off a 14 win season) and in 2022-24 we didn’t project to be anywhere near as bad as we do now. And even then - we didn’t schedule 2 of these public games - only one…

I think it has more to do with money. Fans in the building means revenue or NIL.

 

[knight82]

I think it has more to do with money. Fans in the building means revenue or NIL.

yes. I think this is mostly has Zinn's imprint on it rather than Pike

 

[bac2therac]

Oh I get that we’ve scheduled games like this before. But have we ever penciled in not one but TWO public exhibitions against preseason Top 26 teams? (ESPN has Nova at 26).

Secret scrimmage are very different. This would theoretically have potential to be a major hype killer if hypothetically we were to take a pair of 25+ point poundings, no? Both of these games will have public media coverage (even though they are exhibition). I get that if we keep it close it doesn’t mean anything - but if we can’t even compete against unloaded benches this could be a preseason hype disaster which would be the last thing we would need.

Zinn wants butts in the seats correct? For perspective, unless we beat Houston, we won’t even face a top 50 team until conference play and Seton Hall is probably the only other top 100 team we’ll see early in a real game. The St Johns game at MSG I get - but scheduling a second potential bloodbath against Nova seems like a pretty big risk unless Pike is feeling reasonably positive.

Note also - SJU was nowhere near as good when we scheduled games against them back in 2017 (they were coming off a 14 win season) and in 2022-24 we didn’t project to be anywhere near as bad as we do now. And even then - we didn’t schedule 2 of these public games - only one…

Money grabs

 

[needmorecowbell]

yes. I think this is mostly has Zinn's imprint on it rather than Pike

I wouldn’t say that. Everyone top to bottom knows they need to increase revenue and NIL. It’s the changing of times for everyone. No doubt Zinn has everyone focused on it too.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Money grabs

Perhaps, but even on that front, it still seems like a huge risk, doesn’t it?

Quite literally would be the anthesis of the string complaining about Greg’s silence is stating. Think lack of info is a buzz kill? Imagine what preseason anticipation is going to look like if RU take not one, but two public preseason exhibition beatdowns in basketball to get blasted on TV and in the media. The stands would be a ghost town for those games. Any financial benefits from playing those exhibitions would be wiped out 10 fold from even the fools gold hype that could otherwise be built up to the point where we sustain a WTF type CC loss.

 

[GM]

I think most surprising thing about it to me is that we are doing it so early. 2 of our players, who may end up being starters, aren't even here yet and we are gonna do a big exhibition less than two months later?

 

[RUDiddy777]

Oh I get that we’ve scheduled games like this before. But have we ever penciled in not one but TWO public exhibitions against preseason Top 26 teams? (ESPN has Nova at 26).

Secret scrimmage are very different. This would theoretically have potential to be a major hype killer if hypothetically we were to take a pair of 25+ point poundings, no? Both of these games will have public media coverage (even though they are exhibition). I get that if we keep it close it doesn’t mean anything - but if we can’t even compete against unloaded benches this could be a preseason hype disaster which would be the last thing we would need.

Zinn wants butts in the seats correct? For perspective, unless we beat Houston, we won’t even face a top 50 team until conference play and Seton Hall is probably the only other top 100 team we’ll see early in a real game. The St Johns game at MSG I get - but scheduling a second potential bloodbath against Nova seems like a pretty big risk unless Pike is feeling reasonably positive.

Note also - SJU was nowhere near as good when we scheduled games against them back in 2017 (they were coming off a 14 win season) and in 2022-24 we didn’t project to be anywhere near as bad as we do now. And even then - we didn’t schedule 2 of these public games - only one…

Still think it’s great if we can take some lumps before the season gets going rather than get thrashed in our Thanksgiving week games

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Still think it’s great if we can take some lumps before the season gets going rather than get thrashed in our Thanksgiving week games

I don’t think it would be great to lose big in 2 exhibition games before the season even starts. One, ok fine, but 2 would really be gut wrenching for perception. A secret scrimmage is completely different from a televised exhibition game. I’m not saying we shouldn’t practice against good teams. This goes beyond that though.

 

[RUDiddy777]

I don’t think it would be great to lose big in 2 exhibition games before the season even starts. One, ok fine, but 2 would really be gut wrenching for perception. A secret scrimmage is completely different from a televised exhibition game. I’m not saying we shouldn’t practice against good teams. This goes beyond that though.

That’s a fair point. Agreed.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

That’s a fair point. Agreed.

Let’s hope Pike agrees too and he’s ok with doing this because he’s feeling good about the likelihood of us putting forth at least one competitive showing. Exhibitions don’t count, so winning doesn’t matter at all. But we need to compete.

 

[RUfan1977]

Let’s hope Pike agrees too and he’s ok with doing this because he’s feeling good about the likelihood of us putting forth at least one competitive showing. Exhibitions don’t count, so winning doesn’t matter at all. But we need to compete.

These two exhibition games against high level opponents should be extremely helpful. We have a number of players who have proven they can excel against lower level competition. However, we don’t know if they can be similarly effective against high level defenders. These games should be a good test.

Losing both these games would not be unexpected and is unlikely to hurt perceptions about Rutgers, but winning even one of these games would likely take fan perceptions about this team to totally unrealistic levels.

 

[knight82]

Remember the exhibition against St John's two years ago. Everybody was hyped up over Dylan and Ace, and that game completely exposed the lack of rebounding and defense. Red flags were everywhere even before a real game was played

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

These two exhibition games against high level opponents should be extremely helpful. We have a number of players who have proven they can excel against lower level competition. However, we don’t know if they can be similarly effective against high level defenders. These games should be a good test.

Losing both these games would not be unexpected and is unlikely to hurt perceptions about Rutgers, but winning even one of these games would likely take fan perceptions about this team to totally unrealistic levels.

It’s only a problem if we look like we did last year against Tenn, Michigan, etc. Can’t be completely non competitive. That wouldn’t be good for morale leading into the season.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Remember the exhibition against St John's two years ago. Everybody was hyped up over Dylan and Ace, and that game completely exposed the lack of rebounding and defense. Red flags were everywhere even before a real game was played

How could anyone forget? That’s why I’m cautiously optimistic this is a sign that Pike is happy with what he’s seeing. Pike knows this will give fans a chance to see clues of what’s to come at bare minimum. Last year he didn’t want anyone seeing us until he had to on opening day.

Again - there have been times in the past where he’s expressed confidence in the preseason and we bombed the OOC so it far from guarantees success.

 

[RU Jeep]

Remember the exhibition against St John's two years ago. Everybody was hyped up over Dylan and Ace, and that game completely exposed the lack of rebounding and defense. Red flags were everywhere even before a real game was played

True, but it didnt dampen enthusiasm over the upcoming season. Everyone still believed that we would adjust / grow / etc and we packed the building all season including off campus.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

True, but it didnt dampen enthusiasm over the upcoming season. Everyone still believed that we would adjust / grow / etc and we packed the building all season including off campus.

Of course not. Because the outcome from a win/loss perspective of a preseason exhibition game is meaningless. With these types of games, the only real risk (which wasn’t on the radar preseason with Dylan and Ace is getting the snot blown out of you - particularly in scrimmage like game where benches are unloaded early.

 

[ScarletKid2008]

True, but it didnt dampen enthusiasm over the upcoming season. Everyone still believed that we would adjust / grow / etc and we packed the building all season including off campus.

that scrimmage against St Johns was the first of, unfortunately many more, coming down to earth moments for the Dylan/Ace let down season. Anyone who watches enough basketball saw that game and realized how much of a problem the center position would be for that team

 

[RUDiddy777]

that scrimmage against St Johns was the first of, unfortunately many more, coming down to earth moments for the Dylan/Ace let down season. Anyone who watches enough basketball saw that game and realized how much of a problem the center position would be for that team

In hindsight, I overcredited Ejiofor and didn’t realize how bad it was going to be. Probably also portended what was going to happen if either Dylan or Ace missed extended time, which indeed happened.

 

[RUfan1977]

that scrimmage against St Johns was the first of, unfortunately many more, coming down to earth moments for the Dylan/Ace let down season. Anyone who watches enough basketball saw that game and realized how much of a problem the center position would be for that team

That game certainly made their center look like a superstar. In hindsight, given that he wasn’t, it really showed how weak our center position was.

 

[RUDiddy777]

These two exhibition games against high level opponents should be extremely helpful. We have a number of players who have proven they can excel against lower level competition. However, we don’t know if they can be similarly effective against high level defenders. These games should be a good test.

Losing both these games would not be unexpected and is unlikely to hurt perceptions about Rutgers, but winning even one of these games would likely take fan perceptions about this team to totally unrealistic levels.

I think just be competitive. Smart fans know the team is going to be vastly better by the time conference play gets going, as Pikes teams do, but the starting point can’t be anywhere near as low as it’s been the last 3. Hope it also gives Pike a chance to figure out lineups against real competition so he’s not still tinkering in February… sure some kids are going to flash later on, but my god, it felt like throwing **** at the wall to see what sticks for most of last season.