The Columbia Lions and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights meet Monday in college basketball action from the RAC. Columbia managed to go just 4-22 overall last season, finishing in last place in the Ivy League standings. As for Rutgers, they’re coming off an 18-14 record last year and a First Four berth in the national tournament. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Columbia came back from a long layoff last year after choosing not to conduct a season in 2020-21. The Lions finished with a disappointing 4-22 overall record and a 1-13 mark in Ivy League play. That result left Columbia in last place by four games.
Columbia started out the year at 2-2 with wins over Binghamton and Mount St. Vincent, but a January 8 victory over Penn would be the team’s last for the year. The Lions would finish off their 2021-22 campaign with a 12-game losing streak and a lot of disappointment.
Over on the Rutgers’ side, they had a considerably better campaign last season. The Knights went 18-14 overall and 12-8 in Big Ten games. The strong conference run put Rutgers in fourth place among a host of strong Big Ten teams, just behind Wisconsin, Illinois and Purdue.
Rutgers was sitting at 12-9 as February began. The Knights would win six of their final nine games, then lose to Iowa in the first game of the Big Ten Tournament. The Knights earned a First Four selection to the national tourney, where they lost to Notre Dame.
The Lions are 7-1 ATS in their last eight road games and 1-11 ATS in their last 12 Monday games. Rutgers is 19-7 ATS in their last 26 Monday games and 1-5-1 ATS in their last seven overall.
PICK: I’m staying with Rutgers. The Knights are going to have a tough road ahead as they try to make the NCAA Tournament for the third (technically fourth) time in a row. They’ll be trying it without a few familiar names: Geo Baker has moved on, as has Ron Harper Jr. The good news is that Rutgers still has a pretty strong core featuring players like Caleb McConnell. If he’s able to stay healthy, McConnell should be an anchor on both sides of the ball for the Knights. I think the team will start out strong in this one.