Rutgers vs Maryland Odds, Pick for Tuesday

Big Ten basketball is always a treat no matter which teams are matched up… except maybe this year's Michigan mess.

Luckily, we don't have to deal with either of those teams when Rutgers takes the three-hour drive down 95 to head to College Park to face Maryland on Tuesday.

Neither of these two teams is in the mix for the Big Ten regular-season crown, and both are on the outside looking in on the NCAA Tournament bubble. At this point, these two teams can't afford any losses and will need to be at their best to get even a side-eye from the NCAA Tournament committee.

Rutgers and Maryland have become pretty heated rivals since joining the Big Ten. We may very well have a back-and-forth matchup on our hands this Tuesday night.

Rutgers finds itself in the midst of a down year after being a really solid Big Ten program over the last few seasons.

Head coach Steve Pikiell has done an incredible job during his time in Piscataway, but that doesn't mean fans are happy with his performance this season. and is on the hot seat by Rutgers fans for some reason. Saying he's on the hot seat is a joke if you ask me. After all, this is one bad season after a run of stellar years, and he has a great recruiting class coming in.

Rutgers sits at 3-7 in the conference and is coming off its first Big Ten road win after beating Michigan on Saturday. That marked its most impressive win of the season, as it rallied from 15 down to win by 10 in Ann Arbor.

The Scarlet Knights now have some serious momentum heading into this game. Their guards have struggled a bit this season, which has made it easy for opposing defenses to focus on big man Clifford Omoruyi.

Rutgers needs to incorporate Omoruyi to find success, and if the guards can't facilitate, it's toast.

Maryland comes into this one a few games better than the Scarlet Knights. The Terrapins sit at 5-6 in conference but are coming off a loss on the road to Michigan State. They were in that game for the majority of time, but the Spartans pulled away late.

Head coach Kevin Willard is no stranger to coaching against Rutgers after spending more than a decade at Seton Hall and coaching in some extremely physical and emotional games.

He knows the formula to defeating Pikiell, and that will start with the defense. He will coach his guards up to be extremely physical against Rutgers' backcourt. Keep an eye on this matchup early on in the contest, as it should directly correlate to the final result.

If Rutgers' guards look in control on offense, the Knights are live to win this game. If Maryland can clog things up on the defensive end, it could be a long night for Rutgers.

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Rutgers guard Jeremiah Williams made his season debut in Ann Arbor and was an immediate X-factor. The redshirt junior guard came to Rutgers by way of Temple and Iowa State and finally took the court after being ruled eligible following a violation of the NCAA's gambling policy.

The Rutgers guards taking control is a huge storyline in this matchup. They don't need to score a million points; they just need to facilitate and feed the ball down low.

Williams takes a ton of pressure off fellow guard Derek Simpson. I expect this game to come down to the wire, but even if Maryland makes a clutch defensive stop, Rutgers will stay within the number.

Pick: Rutgers +8