Rutgers Basketball to participate in 2026 College Basketball Crown
Rutgers Basketball is one of eight teams selected to participate in the 2026 College Basketball Crown tournament.
Basketball Rutgers Basketball to participate in 2026 College Basketball Crown
- Thread starter Richie O
- Start date
This is exciting for me to see RU in the Crown Tournament. Maybe it is a sign that some of our guys will be staying.
April 2nd is a long time to practice
you’ll find out shortly who’s thinking of staying based on who plays in this for Rutgers
you’ll find out shortly who’s thinking of staying based on who plays in this for Rutgers
The Crown is potentially a small NIL pay out for players and will cost RU money. Why showcase the few guys we want to keep? Why lose money to play meaningless basketball? The idea of getting player more experience and prepping for next year is antiquated thinking.
Yep..just going to showcase TQ and Lino for bigger bags
In a way this could be a chess move by Pike because it (presumably) keeps these guys tethered to the program for another month.
The winner will face the winner of the April 2 quarterfinal between Stanford and West Virginia. The other quarterfinals, taking place April 1, are Oklahoma vs. Colorado and Baylor vs. Minnesota.
3 schools sub 500
I guess Northwestern and Washington declined
3 schools sub 500
I guess Northwestern and Washington declined
I'm guessing Pike lifted up to the players and they chose Yes
As I wrote in the article, it's an incentivized tournament, winning team is expected to get around $350k total.
It’s funny, I thought bac would be speechless because this goes against his 5000 posts in the last month saying everyone who thought this could happen are complete morons. I thought he would have short circuited at this news considering there was “no chance” of it happening and anyone who even brought it up was being ridiculous. But in fact every other post in this thread is by bac, so it’s the opposite of what I thought. Wow, a March bracket that bac got wrong, who would have thought it was even a possibility? Shocking!
I was hoping a situation like this would happen where a couple of the teams ahead of us would decline. I guess we’ll hear more about that in the coming days. I’m pretty fired up. I don’t care that our record is bad. We are playing pretty well right now. I’m psyched!
Maybe everyone is trying to replicate Nebraska's success? After going out to Vegas for the players era this year , I will be very impressed by anyone who makes this trip.
Lol for RU to make it Indiana, Washington, Northwestern,USC, Oregon and Penn State all declined
Or maybe we go in, play well, guys feel more confident about the group around them, incentivizing each other to stay, transfers see us and see the potential and all of a sudden have a lot more momentum once the portal opens. I doubt a run in the tournament would do anything other than help. Whatever value boost it provides to our players can likely be offset with tournament winnings and now we have a much clearer vision to sell a top center, top wing to come here. And if we lose first round, hey, those guys' values don't change, maybe even scare a team or two off. The fact that the players also want to play again suggests to me this group likes each other and maybe are interested in sticking around, which while we definitely need an influx of talent, I do believe filling out the bench/depth of our roster will be much cheaper staying in house than digging in the portal. I think the biggest potential downside is if Lino plays amazing and the rest of the roster plays terrible, then that could get murky.
Im in Augusta Ga having dinner on way home and saw the news. Nearly spit out my margarita.
I guess Pike got us to the post season again haha. Glad for Manny. Period. No Mas.
You can't pack up and hit the road when you're still practicing and playing with your existing team. It also gives Pike another month to try and win over the guys he wants to keep.
To you and bac. Overused adjective. Speak for yourself. If the team wants to do it, let them do it.
I thought I read somewhere that the costs are paid by the Crown. I may be wrong.
Good news. More practice is better. And this team is a lot better than it was in December. Eager to see how they stack up.
Correct. Rutgers won’t be paying a dime.
This is a positive overall. More practice time , more team building., more air time , more publicity. And for both the players and fans , more fun. After all, it's just a game. Let's enjoy it.
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Love when these threads come up for lesser bowls or lesser tournaments and dudes who have no connection to team except for paying for some tickets and posting on messages boards call something that the actual players who play want to do meaningless. Maybe just maybe Pike has a handle on who may be staying and wants that group (who also want to)to practice more and play some more games.
This team seemed to gel during the last 10 games of the season.
There are some good teams in this tournament, and some TV exposure could be a big boost for portal recruitment.
There are some good teams in this tournament, and some TV exposure could be a big boost for portal recruitment.
UW men don't receive invitation for postseason tournaments
The Washington men’s basketball team won't play in the postseason as it did not receive an invitation to play in the College Basketball Crown.
www.seattletimes.com
According to this article, Washington didn’t get an invite. Not sure if it’s accurate.
My understanding is the team voted to play.
So I'm all for Rutgers being in it.
Whether it showcases talent to be poached or not doesn't matter, those that will be poached probably have been looking for a new home and it's better to replace them than have a player(s) forced to stay because no one wants them.
Let the players have a good time after a disappointing season and maybe the ones thinking about leaving will find a reason to stay
And more Sweet Pea. Can't wait to get my act on the road again.
What a joke. The Crown will not be around next year.
UW men don't receive invitation for postseason tournaments
The Washington men’s basketball team won't play in the postseason as it did not receive an invitation to play in the College Basketball Crown.
According to this article, Washington didn’t get an invite. Not sure if it’s accurate.
Don't be a downer. Last year couldn't get over soon enough. I want more RU Basketball.
Well, there goes NJ.com's article.
RU travel costs are covered by organizers, $20-30k for each player participating, more opps to see RU team play in a couple weeks and see who may stick around after portal opens.
Really no downside for Pike, program, players or fans.
GO RU
Really no downside for Pike, program, players or fans.
GO RU