2023-24 Prediction League - Game 16 at Rutger Tue 1/9/24 7pm Peacock

[IUHoosier5 1,597]

Indiana: 66

Rutgers: 59

[DoctorP 1,011]

Rooger 66

IU 63

[choosierred1 77]

IU - 68.
Rutgers - 65.

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[Home Jersey 7,334]

IU 64

Rutgers 66

[IUHoosierJoe 1,143]

Rutgers 71, Indiana 64

[Napleshoosier 10,227]

70- 66. Them.

[taco corp 171]

Rutgers   69

IU    63

[tkbbn 487]

IU  71.  GO BIG RED

them 64

[DChoosier 8,346]

IU - 74

Jersey Boys - 69

[LIHoosier 26,148]

Rutger 66

IU 62

[Crazy about IU 182]

IU 70

Rut  64

[BottomLine 686]

This is another tough game to pick.  I think IU will have a lot of these tossup games this year.  

We have a better record than Rutgers but that doesn't mean that we have played that much better.  Way too many close games against teams we should have outclassed.  Thankfully we have ended up on top in all of those.

Playing on the road in the Big10 is a nightmare.  Ask Ohio State about that.  Without taking match-ups into consideration I think the road team has about a 25-30% chance of winning.  That looks bad for the Hoosiers and good for Rutgers.  We usually play at Rutgers like we are having a root canal.  Their defense can make most games a brawl.  How tough are we?

The X factor here is Xavier Johnson, no pun intended.  He was the  difference against Ohio State, where he played under control, unlike Nebraska.  How is he going to respond Tuesday after a short turn around between games and a trip to New Jersey?  He has the ability to make this team better than we have been to this point.  How much better?  That is the real question.  Especially if he starts playing out of control hero ball.

On paper I make this one about a 3 point Rutgers victory with the scoring in the low 70's.  However, now we have the Xavier factor.  I rated the Ohio State game a toss-up and IU won by 6.  Johnson?  I'm going to fudge my prediction here by 6 points and make this a 3 point IU win.  This is getting way too complicated.

Hoosiers          74

Rutgers            71 

[Naturalhoosier 15,424]

IU - 72

RU - 69

[AZ Hoosier 7,023]

 

On paper I make this one about a 3 point Rutgers victory with the scoring in the low 70's.  However, now we have the Xavier factor.  I rated the Ohio State game a toss-up and IU won by 6.  Johnson?  I'm going to fudge my prediction here by 6 points and make this a 3 point IU win.  This is getting way too complicated.

Hoosiers          74

Buckeyes          71 

This is for the Rutgers game. tOSU was last week

[mamasa 15,269]

IU 74

R 70

[Rico 3,028]

IU  71

Rutgers  66

[Demo 19,870]

IU. 72

RU. 68

[BottomLine 686]

4 hours ago, AZ Hoosier said:

This is for the Rutgers game. tOSU was last week

Thank you for catching that.  Correction has been made.

[johnsoniu 6,408]

Hoosiers- 71

Rutger- 74

[HoosierHoopster 6,962]

Going against the odds makers and the -3.5 or so spread favoring Rutger in a low scoring game around 138. Rutger probably wins this one in their house, and they're going to do what they do at home -- foul ugly with poor, home-favored officiating. 

But screw it, we got some confidence out of the OSU game, X is back, everyone is healthy, Bako is due to hit some shots, Trey too.

IU - 70

Rutger - 67