Rutgers hung tough with two of the best teams in the country. Alabama looks like they may return to the final four, and tamu has top talent. We're starting 2-3 freshmen. Everything is still coming together, but I've seen enough to be convinced we're going to win a lot of games.

Thanks, Aaron, for your usual balanced take. Panicking on Nov 30 is just nuts. Enjoy the journey. Life is too short to get all spooled up over a couple of basketball losses. Progress is certainly there. Do we still need to see more? Of course. If we don't make NCAAs, then I'll join the critics. Until then, I'll enjoy the games.

Great to see a complete game from RU in all phases....please do it again. But I will always remember this season as the loss of the Citrus bowl due to Schiano's time out. I'm also a Bears fan...watched Eberflus self destruct on national TV on Thanksgiving.....ouch !

I've seen a bunch of 'what could've been' comments on social media about this program but, nobody seems to be mentioning how this team stopped a 4 game losing skid & rebounded after a brutal loss vs Illinois. We should be proud of the type of program we have here! College football was a dumpster fire this weekend with all the planting the flag stupidity. Rutgers is one of the few programs that is doing it the right way when it comes to building a team & culture. These young men never quit and they care for each other. We're gonna get there with the right players.

Martini has clearly lost his confidence. Great to see JWill breakout.

What these 2 were doing last night on the court was completely and absolutely outrageous and incredible. I have never seen anything like these 2 on any team not only Rutgers?. It was a loss, and it hurts, but a pleasure to watch and see! Butler and Villanueva were considered 1 and 2 for Uconn back in the day , but even they were not doing anything close to this on the court

Aaron, I always appreciate your optimism, but come on, we are getting killed in the paint all season. This is going to continue to be a huge problem in Big Ten play. Pike is going to be fighting to keep his job this season. Right now, this team does not look like a top 25 team. Way to much expectations to be on Ace and Harper. Just like all the commentators are saying there is a huge drop off in players after the two star freshman. These freshmen need help, and Pike did not get the right players in the portal. Not one high major transfer!!

This season was a failure. Every team was decimated by injuries. We went 6 and 6 last year to 7 and 5 this year with all the seniors coming back. I wouldn't call this season a success. What happens next season? We'll six wins be a success? How long will it take us to be an 8 and 4 team?

Well done Aaron and Scarlet Knights

You have these 2 phenoms for a few more months. Coach better find a formula to win these games or this era will be over quickly.

We have 2 great players. We dont have a great team. The supporting cast will need to make great strides. The BIG ten is way better than originally thought. We we need to play much better against those teams that have grown men and teams that can out physical us. These losses are not on Pike(maybe Kennesaw). We just need a third, fourth and fifth player to show up and contribute. TBD

It was an awesome win. Michigan ST had a lot of motivation to win this game. It was great to see that Rutgers has an offense that can function during bad weather. I also agree it was amazing to see Rutgers not just win but dominate the game. The first down conversions from third and long by the receivers were great too. They never took their foot off the gas. I was also happy that the team responded after the Illinois game. The program took a step forward. Not the special season many of us was hoping for. But still a step in the right direction.

So they came in 6th place ?

Rutgers finally has a QB!!

This was the most satisfying win for me. Aside from those awful tush push plays (which I wish Rutgers would banish from its playbook) RU looked aggressive and competent on both sides of the ball. Also, some much needed redemption for Schiano & Co , a calming influence on the incoming class.

had Martini played like he should be playing, (shooting 3's) that would have opened up Dylan B1G time!!

Agreed on J Mike there…meaning I never want to see him with the ball in his hands unless he’s getting a rebound or steal and immediately passing to someone else. Anyone else.

Love your optimism. but this was a disasterclass in interior d against a team that struggles from three (you didnt mention that). Martini can't play at this level. Grant is the better choice IMO. The big ten will need a rash of injuries and adversity for RU to make the NCAA tourney. I'm through with J Mike. I dont wanna see him again. PJ wont move without the ball to get open. Teams will learn all they need to defend are 2-3 guys. Hope I'm wrong. This was awful. And yeah, refs didn't help either. TAM flopped a LOT. God save this program.

Good review

Now do hoops really wanna know what you think. I know it’s early but the problems are enormous

For the amount of money RU is paying these guys no loss is acceptable

This season was a complete failure!

I'm confident Athan will be able to throw given MSU's issues. And with nothing major to play for for...may as well have fun ! Even though it's cold day...I'd be shocked if Kirk goes heavy run given MSU's strength is their LBs. Question is whether Chiles will run MSU to victory. RU is horrible against QBs with decent wheels. Other question is whether special teams will help us (see MSU 2023) or hurt us (see most of RU 2024).

Great game. The 3 point difference was the key, spot on Aaraon. Also people keep commenting that Pike failed in not getting a center; people seem to forget or not know that RU was never in position to woo a top center vs other programs with much deeper pockets. It’s not that he didn’t get a center… it’s that he COULDN’T get a center. That said, O & S are improving and have each showed signs of their strengths. Over the weeks and months they should become serviceable and consistent, which I believe will be good enough. So excited after this game. I honestly thought we were going to get blown out.

I'd come out throwing the ball all over the field. AK has been on fire ever since the bye week, and MSUs secondary isn't great. Rutgers should be able to score often. I saw the Purdue game last week. Chiles reminded me some of Gavin (which is good). He gets nervous feet. Put Aaron on his right and force Chiles to roll to his left. He'll put up a wounded duck.

Big E has his pros & cons, with some upside. Dang he hit those FTs while being viewed as a low% shooter by Crimson coach. The surrounding players will get better with time & proper coaching.

I thought Ogbole did a nice job for Rutgers! Great job !

RU needs a shooter i though Martini and Hays was it.

The problem was that Rutgers was scoring 2pts, and Bama was shooting 3s like crazy.

What happened to our new 3 point snipers? We continually get bombed from beyond the 3 point line (defense is a whole other conversation) and we have no answer. We're supposed to plug PJ Hayes et at into the lineup and fire back. If we had a serious 3 point response we would have won won the game last night. We're still throwing up bricks. We're going to burn Dylan Harper out at this rate.

This team is in big trouble this year! Rebounding is going to kill them in conference play. You can't expect Dylan and Ace to play like that every game.

Now I wonder how everyone feels about two-time defending champion UConn having lost all three of their games while at the Maui Invitational???

We almost got it done guys but the facts are we still lost even though Alabama was the better team. Now we were probably gonna have to put up 90 to even beat them anyway, but we really lacked in defense during the Kennesaw State game as well. However, I know Steve Pikiell will get our team to play much better whenever we don't have the ball.

Big E outplayed Cliff. Yes we need to tighten up D and rebounding, but an unintended consequence of Dylan going off is the other players out of rhythm. Yes ace picked it up but Acuff and Derkack were off. If we get get a little more balance on Offense and Defense we’ll be fine. Can’t ask Dylan to pit up 30 a night, especially in the B1G.

According to the TV announcers, there is a "huge drop off" in talent after Dylan and Ace, which explains why the 2024-25 season will fall short of expectations. I'm not so sure if I agree. The Alabama game shows RU can compete. If Williams doesn't foul out or if we get a few more rebounds, or connect on a couple of more 3s, maybe we beat Alabama. That's a lot of ifs, I know, but it's really a matter of getting it all together. It's only November. The team is figuring it out. In March, we'll be the team nobody wants to play.

If the rest of the team, including Ace, could give Dylan a little more help they could be good. But there's no question this off-season, Pikiel HAS to get a center.

As a fan, Such a different experience being the one envied for having such incredible talent on their team. Years of wishing we had a guard that could take over a game for us. And yes we have had some good guards in the past, but Dylan is above all with what he has shown so far. Kenn St was brutal, but you said it, the offense needs to run thru Dylan and we will be very good once everyone gets comfortable with that.

I really hate losing since we really had a shot at it. Losing sucks. But the coming back from that late 9 point deficit is a sign of a Pike team. Never out of it

Coach P got to understand when Ace make a few shots. He’s in rhythm and I noticed the coach will always take him out the game when he just begin to heat Coach P got to stop doing that and I used to think that Dylan Harper was a dog now I believe he’s a hybrid dog that’s a beast.

Defensive looked better especially creating turnovers. They may be rounding into form as a consistent high scoring team that will hopefully overcome the rebounding issues.

They played well and were in it the whole way. That said, I’m not too bothered by the loss. Plenty of other games waiting to be won.

They will only get better as the season goes on!

If there's such a thing as a good loss, this was it. RU getting respect nationwide.

Shout out Ogbole. Absolutely..Better than Cliff!

They need to play defense. Harper and Ace needs help. They need a shooter. They are missing a big man like cliff.

It’s ironic that the most optimistic I’ve been was after the St. John’s exhibition loss and this Alabama loss. They have a lot of potential.

RU is lucky to win that game. 41 is deadly with shooting accuracy. RU needs to learn to pass the ball.

Dylan Harper looks amazing!

Harper put the whole team on his back. Shouldn’t be that way, but RU was not getting enough offense from the others - particularly Bailey.

Talk about ‘luck of the Irish’. How many threes could they hope for? Good grief.