Richie I am unable to access Rivals from my desktop at work it’s telling me the connection is is not private and that’s from different browsers I never had this issue before?
Is it on Rivals end? I can access from my phone

Looks like another dry week with minimal rain chances and gameday looks like a beautiful fall day with a cool/chilly start (temps in the low/mid 40s), warming up into the low 60s for the game, with plenty of sunshine. Close to a lock, although there's some chance of rain on Sunday, so let's just make sure that system doesn't speed up and possibly impact our game (very unlikely). Great weather would be nice, but I'd trade all the great weather for a win.

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-74.47329715266824&lat=40.51967164769712

I haven't had much time to fire out an article for TKR yet because of other stuff going on in my personal life and with work but here are some predictions and important bullet points for the upcoming season.

1. Rutgers finishes 21-10 overall and 12-8 in the Big Ten. There is a special buzz in the air around Piscataway and the 2024-25 season is likely to be the most anticipated in decades for Rutgers hoops. Steve Pikiell and company have built a roster with experience, talent, and playmakers. Now it's time to put up or shut up, and produce results on the hardwood that can give this promising program the respect it deserves. While it isn't the sexiest OOC schedule in the world, it's a much tougher one than in years past under the Pikiell regime. After all, Pikiell is taking a calculated risk playing a Q3/4 road game at Kennessaw State and will take his Scarlet Knights to Sin City to face off against an improved Notre Dame squad, a national championship contender in Alabama, and a potential Q1/2 opponent on the last day of the MTE. Then Rutgers must turnaround and hit the road to face off against Big Ten foe Ohio State (where they have never won) and then face three straight rivals in Penn State, Seton Hall, and Princeton. It's a tall task from the early going but this stretch will teach us a lot about this team. How resilient and how tough they are. Should they fold, it could be a real uphill climb the rest of the way. If you want to prove you are one of the Big Ten's best and perhaps one of the best teams in the country, these are the games you need to win. It is imperative Rutgers gets off on the right foot in their early December Big Ten matchups and also avoids landmines along the way in the OOC schedule. While I don't think Rutgers will be perfect in the OOC stretch, I do think they should finish no worse than 9-2 with zero Q3/4 losses. The Big Ten as always is a grind and just about anyone can beat each other in this league. It happens year after year after year. It's all about matchups, and how well does Rutgers match up with other teams in the Big Ten. That is why I think Rutgers will finish 12-8 in the Big Ten.

2. Rutgers earns 6-seed in NCAAT. Rutgers does have somewhat of a challenging slate in the OOC schedule and they will have to navigate a few difficult stretches throughout the season, but Steve Pikiell and company have built a roster that should be good enough to earn the Scarlet Knights a 6-seed in the NCAAT. No question there is going to be tremendous pressure on the freshmen Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper to perform at 'top-level' day in and day out on the hardwood but the supporting cast around them needs to carry their weight too. As veteran leaders of this team, Zach Martini and Jeremiah Williams will have to ensure the youngbloods stay focused and zoned in on their mission to win games and not to get caught up in the hype surrounding Piscataway this season. Rutgers will have to rely heavily on a deep backcourt to generate offense and push the tempo while finding creative ways to get the ball in the hands of PJ Hayes for the game's knockout punch. The biggest questions entering this season is how will Emmanuel Ogbole and Lathan Sommerville perform in the frontcourt and defend more experienced big men? We got a taste of it in the exhibition against St. John's and it wasn't pretty. Rutgers will have to adjust throughtout the season on the defensive side of the ball and find better ways of generating rebounds. Rutgers has several key games on their schedule that if they win those games, it should surely boost their resume and get them back to the NCAAT as a single-digit seed. They have the talent and playmakers, now it's time to put their foot on the gas pedal and don't look back.

3. Rutgers gets revenge on Michigan State. Michigan State has generally had the upper hand in this match up in recent memory after Izzo and Sparty embarrassed Rutgers in East Lansing last year. Tom Izzo and Sparty have avoided The RAC now for about 3 years and come February it will be 4 years. This year's game is rumored to be at Madison Square Garden, and what a statement it would make for Rutgers if they were to outlast Sparty in the Big Apple and in front of a national audience on CBS. This game comes at a critical juncture during the season and would be a massive Q1 opportunity for the Scarlet Knights if they can pull off the marquee victory. Michigan State should be a Top 25 team by the time these two teams meet. I fully expect Rutgers fans to pack The Garden to the gills.

4. Beware of Princeton. As I stated earlier, Rutgers will enter a difficult stretch from the time they play in the Vegas MTE to the moment they face Princeton in Brick City. And you better believe Mitch Henderson and his Tigers will be ready for Rutgers. Rutgers will enter the matchup with Princeton after playing Notre Dame, Alabama, a Q1 opponent yet TBD, Ohio State, Penn State, and Seton Hall. The Scarlet Knights can ill afford to have a letdown game to Princeton. Last year in Trenton, the Scarlet Knights entered the matchup with the Tigers extremely unprepared and were ambushed from the start of the game which led to a disappointing early season loss. This is a game Xaivian Lee and Caden Pierce surely have circled on their calendar and for more reason when they will tip off against their former teammate Zach Martini.

5. Frontcourt issues. It often goes overlooked, but I think Rutgers will struggle in the frontcourt this season, especially at the five. Cliff Omoruyi leaving for greener pastures at Alabama surely did not help this program and Pikiell's inability to bring in a well-rounded big man in the transfer portal during the offseason didn't do justice either. If the plan is to play Ogbole majority of the minutes and rotate Martini and Sommerville in-and-out of the five-spot, this could be a problem for Rutgers majority of the season. The frontcourt is certainly going to have its challenges this season, especially on the defensive side of the ball when they face teams with quality big men (Alabama, Michigan, Indiana etc. to name a few) due to the lack of experience and size. Martini may be Rutgers most experienced player that could play some minutes at the five-spot but he is surely undersized when going against some of the more talented big men in the conference. Although, Sommerville has the offensive skillset, can he adapt and improve his defensive prowess? On the flip side, can Ogbole show the world that he's improved his offensive game? We heard all off-season how he improved his game but it needs to translate on the hardwood. Also, can Ogbole become a reliable defender in the post due to his massive size and presence?

6. Brutal stretch, Part 1. From the moment these Scarlet Knights arrive to the KSU Convocation Center on November 24th to December 21st, they face an absolute gauntlet of a stretch of games. During that stretch Rutgers will face a test in Kennesaw State (11/24), Notre Dame (11/26), Alabama (11/27), Q1/2 team (11/30), Ohio State (12/7), Penn State (12/10), Seton Hall (12/14), and Princeton (12/21). This team is going to surely be tested and we're going to learn a lot about this team during this stretch. It might actually be the most important stretch of this team's season because it's an opportunity to garner some quality wins along the ride and build the case for an NCAA Tournament-worthy resume. Rutgers must at all costs must avoid a letdown at Kennesaw State, finish 2-1 in Vegas, defeat Ohio State on the road, start 2-0 in the Big Ten, and deliver a death blow to their in-state rivals Seton Hall & Princeton. If Rutgers can somehow manage to get through this stretch at 7-1, they will be in fabulous shape and have set the tone entering the remainder of the Big Ten season.

7. Brutal stretch, Part 2. Well, I just got done talking about the brutal stretch they have from late November to mid-December, but what about the immediate brutal stretch that lies ahead in January? Rutgers has tilts against Indiana (1/2), Wisconsin (1/6), Purdue (1/9), and UCLA (1/13). Again, this is another tough stretch for Rutgers, but call me crazy, this could be a manageable tough stretch. Rutgers will face three of the four teams during this stretch at The RAC. It would be extremely impressive if they can nab a win on the road at Indiana but Rutgers really needs to at worst finish 2-2 during this stretch. I would be elated if they went 3-1 or better during this stretch, but realistically I see the Scarlet Knights finishing 2-2.

8. BONUS - Injury bug. It's not often talked about much, but Rutgers hoops has been hit with the injury bug to major contributors on their roster each season, and it's hurt this team immensely. So, it's going to be very important that Rutgers stays injury-free this season. If key players like Williams, Harper, Bailey, or Martini get hit with injuries, it could spell trouble for this team.

I need to take a large chunk of money out of my home for a big project. What banks have the best rates right now and how far will rates lower in the near future. The project is starting in Feb or March

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I think we are generally pretty good with all aspects of the game, with the exception of rebounding. Wagner was a very small team and we couldn’t rebound on the offensive end, and it seemed like they had too many second chance opportunities in the second half?

Thats my only concern after tonight. Dylan and Lathan stood out, and we got some nice production from PJ snd Derkack. With Ace, im sure the numbers will look better. Martini is tough and Jmike is a good defender. I want to see more set plays for PJ, 3 point shots. I think he will have some very big shooting nights snd we need to feed him the ball. Jwill had some productive minutes. I just don’t see it yet with Ogbole.?

At the outset, the Minnesota Game looks like a Wisconsin style beatdown. They play really tough defense, and are within the Top 10 in Scoring Defense. They are very tough against the pass. Their quarterback, Max Brosmer, sports a phenomenal 68.2% passing completion %, mostly to Darrell Jackson, the Big Tens leading returning receiver, and their leading rusher Darius Taylor, is capable of dropping 150+ rushing yards on the opposing team. They’ve beaten USC and UCLA, among others, and lost tough games to Michigan, Iowa, and North Carolina to go 6-3, thus far. With remaining games against Penn State and Wisconsin, they are looking at this game as the most winnable of the remaining games. For Rutgers, Minnesota is the least winnable of the remaining games.

Nevertheless, Rutgers must find away, because even though these are the toughest days of the season, and we are significantly banged up, we are quickly running out of opportunities, to go bowling. Somehow, some way, we’ve got to win 2 additional games to maintain the perception of progress. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to maintain the recruiting success we saw with last years class.

Thankfully, there’s enough talent to take down Minnesota. It all starts with #5 Kyle Monangai, who has Heisman level talent, but saw significantly diminished production after Left Guard, Brian Felter went down. Taj White replaced him, and is doing his best, while he acclimates to this level of play. Was happy to meet his parents at the LAX baggage claim, and told them to tell him to “Just Keep Chopping!” Overall he’s done a good job, considering the circumstances. Getting back to Kyle, we need him to be “Big Game Kyle”, and for him to put up 150-200 rushing yards against Minnesota. Though he was beaten up against USC, it’s expected he will play vs Minnesota. Incidentally, Iowas Kaleb Johnson rushed for 206 yards, against Minnesota so Rutgers must use the same template.

We will need QB Athan Kaliakmanis, to have a big game as well. Overall he played well against USC, but did miss a number of TD throws. We need him to throw for 300+ yards and better than a 60% completion %. Hopefully since he knows Minnesota’s personnel well, it will help.

Athans favorite target has been Dymere Miller, who had 11 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown vs USC. We’ll need 100+ receiving yards from him Saturday. Korey Duff and Ben Black will complement his efforts. The trio have made it tough for anyone else to see time, and have significantly strengthened the effectiveness of the WR Corp. though Dremel and Long might get a few opportunities.

While the offense looks ready to continue progressing, the defense has struggled terribly, as of late. We went from having two NFL ready DEs and two NFL ready LBers to kids who are struggling, while they learn the ropes. Outstanding LB Tyreem Powell has played some, but his effectiveness has been significantly diminished by injury. We also have a freshman seeing significant time in the secondary, who struggled against USC. So the opposing offenses in the last two games scored at will, and Rutgers gave up 42 points to USC and 35 points to UCLA. We have to get much better in our reads, run fits, and tackling. Maybe it’s time to play the freshman linebackers. Based on what I’ve observed thus far, we don’t have anything to lose. Washington beat USC thanks to the efforts of their outstanding senior LB Carson Bruener and true freshman LB, Kamari House. Hope one of our freshman can have a similar impact.

The season is at the crossroads and we must finish strong. Beat Minnesota, and we are a lock to go bowling. Let’s get it!

For the purposes of this poll, you have to decide on a hypothetical.:

You are the executor of a will of a lifelong RU donor. He has given you the choice to allocate $1 Million of his/her estate to one of two places:

-A RU NIL collective for RU football
-Towards the buyout of Greg Schiano's contract so that RU can terminate him. This $1M will ensure that the remaining buyout amount is fullfilled. Without it, he will not be terminated in 2024, 2025 or 2026.

You must donate the entire amount to one of the causes.

What is your choice?

I’ve been in Green for many years (and like it … easy access and exit). This year I was “assigned” APC parking. Does anyone have experience with APC vs Green and benefits/drawbacks. I’m considering calling to switch back but thought I’d check first.

Category: A Study in Scarlet

Clue: Sir Henry the Scarlet Knight is the mascot of this university

And yes, it was answered correctly.

Reportedly
Thoughts?

Of potential scams, make sure users you are buying from / selling to have legit email address like yahoo, gmail, etc. Also if you aren't sure if a user is real or not, then please email me RURichie@gmail.com and I'll look into the user's identity before you purchase to confirm they are a real user. Any other issues, please tag me @Richie O or email me, I'm always around and here to help.

Was at the Manhattan game and watched last night on BTN+. Competition may not have been top tier, but it’s pretty obvious that we have more talent than in previous years even to someone who doesn’t follow the woman’s game super closely. Fun team to watch. Let’s pick up those Ws!