After UCLA ran Rutgers off the floor in a 32-point rout at Pauley Pavilion, Bruins head coach Mick Cronin didn’t hold back at the podium. Sure, he gave Rutgers and head coach Steve Pikiell their due - calling Pikiell “a great coach” - but he also peeled back the curtain on what he sees as a growing divide in college basketball.
“There’s haves and have nots in the money world,” Cronin said. “It’s a shame we don’t have a salary cap and everybody was playing even.
But this is baseball, not the NFL. This is MLB.”
That quote didn’t come out of nowhere. It was a pointed acknowledgment of the financial imbalance that’s shaping the sport in the NIL era - and a not-so-subtle nod to Rutgers’ place on the wrong side of that divide.
The Scarlet Knights have been fighting an uphill battle when it comes to NIL resources, and the results are showing. Last season, despite having two future top-five NBA Draft picks in Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, they missed the NCAA Tournament. This year, the struggles have only deepened.
Rutgers is now 9-14 overall and 2-10 in Big Ten play, mired in a six-game losing streak - their longest since the 2017-18 season. They sit just one game out of last place in the conference standings, a spot they haven’t occupied since the early years of Pikiell’s rebuild in Piscataway. Unless something drastic changes, they’re on track for a third straight losing season both overall and in Big Ten play - something that hasn’t happened since Pikiell’s first three years at the helm.
From a numbers standpoint, it’s been rough. Rutgers ranks 156th in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency rankings - the lowest among Big Ten teams by a wide margin.
Maryland, the next closest, sits at 138th. In conference play, the Scarlet Knights are dead last in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency.
That’s not a typo - 15th in offense and 17th in defense in a 14-team league.
The defense, once a calling card under Pikiell, has fallen off a cliff. Over their last eight games, Rutgers has allowed at least 1.2 points per possession in every contest.
Against UCLA, it got downright ugly - the Bruins torched them for 1.55 points per possession, per Bart Torvik. That’s the second-worst defensive performance Rutgers has posted in the KenPom era, which dates back to 1996-97.
While the offensive issues were expected - the team has leaned heavily on star guard Tariq Francis to create - the defensive collapse has been the bigger surprise. This program was built on toughness, discipline, and defensive intensity. Right now, none of those traits are showing up on the floor.
Cronin’s comments weren’t just coach-speak after a big win. They were a reflection of the harsh reality Rutgers is facing.
In a world where NIL dollars can swing recruiting battles and reshape rosters overnight, programs without deep pockets are struggling to keep up. The Scarlet Knights are feeling that pressure - and it’s showing in the standings, on the stat sheet, and in the tone of opposing coaches who recognize the imbalance.
For Rutgers, the path forward isn’t easy. The talent has been there - Harper and Bailey were proof of that - but retaining and developing that talent in today’s landscape is a different challenge altogether. Without a stronger NIL infrastructure, the Knights are stuck trying to win a race with one shoe untied.
And as Cronin made clear, this isn’t the NFL, where parity is built into the system. This is college basketball’s version of Major League Baseball - and right now, Rutgers is playing small-market ball in a league of heavy hitters.