Glad we made a run in the second half- deck was stacked against us in so many ways tonight. We can be competitive, but now we need to win some games if we are going to continue the positive narrative. I think Penn State is a must win in that respect.
What we all expected - but Penn State is now a must win
- Thread starter RUinSC
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Year 1 of a program with a current team that has crappy BIG talent is not a must win. Pikiell won't face a "must win" game until year 3 here at the earliest. This team is expected to go nowhere and does not face must win games.
Who hacked Plum Street's account?
Must win is a bit much. We are going to take our lumps in Big Ten play there is no getting around that. Yes we should take at at least 1 from PSU but I wouldn't call anything a must win this season
I'm only speaking in terms of continuing the positive media coverage. Lose to Penn State and it starts to decline.
Penn State is a must win because recruiting is at stake.The notion that Rutgers can wait 3 years for a must win is nonsense because the positive publicity will quickly dissipate.Winning matters now against B1G competition.The last two seasons were horrendous against league competition.
We've only lost 2 games in a row, and they were arguably two of our toughest four contests we'll have. Yes it's a must win if you are trying to win the national championship, 2 losses in a row wow....
IMHO there are ZERO "must wins" remaining on our schedule. Just get to 14 and I'll be beyond ecstatic.
It really is a MUST win because Penn State has proven thus far to probably be the worst team in the league. Not being able to beat them isnt going to be a great sign for beating much better schools at home. The Sanders injury will make it tougher but before this injury happen there is no question this is a must win for perception for recruiting and for fans, not going to get fans onboard if you are losing to Penn State to start the year
Agreed...It's semantics...NEED to win, MUST win, WINABLE game, ..It's all the same thing. ON PAPER and based on how the team has played and shown in spurts...CAN win..Dare I say it...WITH Corey, even limited minutes, I EXPECT a win, as there will probably not be many more that I feel this way about...
Our first 6 games in the BIG are tough. We really do need a win against Penn State to get to 1-1. I personally want to see
us finish at least at .500 so we need to win at least 5 games in the BIG. We cannot let a potential W in a home game get away from us. We need to defend our home court to keep the positive feedback going forward. It is definitely important that we win on Sunday. We need to bring back the RAC as well. We are 8-0 at home so far this season. We must get RU fans to attend on Sunday.
us finish at least at .500 so we need to win at least 5 games in the BIG. We cannot let a potential W in a home game get away from us. We need to defend our home court to keep the positive feedback going forward. It is definitely important that we win on Sunday. We need to bring back the RAC as well. We are 8-0 at home so far this season. We must get RU fans to attend on Sunday.
Penn St is not a good team. If We don't win this game it will be hard to get 5 wins this year.
If we want to be relevant, it's a must win. 11-3 is great but you have to continue to win games against inferior teams. We'll win at home with or w/o Sanders. Team is deep and playing hard. We'll grind it out. Only way we lose is if PSU shoots lights out on 3s.
I couldn't disagree more with this. 3 big ten wins would be an enormous letdown and won't get it done. If we want multiple top 100 players we need to win 5 or 6 games. I am not saying if we win 3 games the pikiel era is over but three wins would waste the great out conference start and delay the turnaround. I don't know why you would be ecstatic about that.
seriously...i don't know that there are any MUST WINS this year unless we are talking NIT down the stretch. PSU looked far from impressive yesterday.
disagree...you can't use Penn State as a barometer to what they will do the rest of the way. Yep, PSU stinks. But many factors go into each singular game. Hey, we don't even know if Sanders is playing, or if he is what % he is at.
The goal should be a winning season which requires 16 wins.As such home games against teams like Penn State must be considered as must wins in order achieve the goal.Gaining respect from high school coaches and top tier recruits are all part of the positive perception that will occur with a winning season.
yes Penn State is bad, of the winnable games they and Nebraska are by far the two most winnable games and the others like Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota are all two notches up from them. If we are not beating a bad team in our home conference opener and yes they are bad with a few freshmen not jelling as of yet, its going to be a huge disappointment given the start because the refrain from most will be same old rutgers and that goes mainly to the casual fan who we want to go into the building. Northwestern is the next home game and they are a bear this year. Need to keep the positive momnentum going as a road game against Michigan State before that look like a sure loss
I know what people are trying to say that we can bounce back from one loss but....
I know what people are trying to say that we can bounce back from one loss but....
Penn St at home represents one of the very few games that we should probably win (if you want to consider this season an improvement). I don't consider the season an improvement if we get embarassed up and down in the B1G again. Therefore I consider this game a must win from a perspective of team and fan confidence, media/outsider perception, and the fact that every B1G win in any sport for RU is hard to come by these days. This is one where we might even be favored, therefore I agree its a "must win" but the must is more about psyche not post-season.
Because I'm not delusional. This team CAN'T SHOOT. Did you not see how many freakin' point-blank shots we missed, yet again, last night? That is a problem. We have made great strides, however, we have a very long way to go. I'd be very happy with a 14-15 win type of season. Yes.
Yeah because ots always a great sign to get thumped at home by the next worst Big 10
The must part is about momnentum for the season and fan interest
The must part is about momnentum for the season and fan interest
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I was never on the bandwagon for more than 5-6 Big 10 wins but I have generally been skeptical of how good the team was based on that weak schedule. I was impressed with how they handled landmines Stony Brook and Fordham and liked how they competed against SHU....BUT to not compete vs Penn State after a rough game against Wisky is sort of showing how limited this team is
This team will not go O fer this year but all that NIT talk can go bye bye now along with those ridiculous NCAA discussions
This was a bad loss and the team played worse than they should have but statements like these are way off. Who sold that bill of goods? Over zealous fans perhaps. Anyone that thought this team was going to win 16+ games was ignoring reality anyway. Too many fans saw 11 wins and got carried away. 3-4 Big Ten wins has always been a realistic target.
