Rutgers’ basketball expectations sky high thanks to superstar freshman duo
By Zach Braziller
Published Sep. 25, 2024, 1:14 a.m. ET

The arrival of Dylan Harper and Airious “Ace” Bailey has changed so much for Rutgers. There is the potential of a preseason top-25 ranking, and already there is significant hype rarely attached to the New Jersey state school.

NBA scouts will flock to Jersey Mike’s Arena to see the two five-star prospects and projected one-and-done lottery picks. Along with that comes pressure, the weight of expectations before a game is even played.

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Still, this is new territory for him, coaching two players like Bailey and Harper. They were ranked second and third in the country among high school seniors last year by 247Sports.com and are viewed as future NBA players. In a practice open to the media, the two showcased their world-class ability, sinking long jumpers, getting to the basket at will and finding open teammates.

If not for Duke’s freshman phenom Cooper Flagg, the sweet-shooting, 6-foot-10 Bailey from Chattanooga, Tenn., would be in consideration as the potential top pick in next year’s NBA draft.

“They’re not sleepers, that’s for sure,” Pikiell said jokingly. “What you saw is they’re elite passers, they’re great kids from great families. Thankful that they’re here. … They’re really talented players, but they work. They’re good workers and they’re good teammates.”

@lou v has three ideas over the bye week to fix Northwestern's offensive woes.

Running back Ronny Johnson somehow one-upped his performance in the last roundup, rushing for five touchdowns last week. I cover his big game, defensive end Jonah Hayes leading his team in tackles, wins from the 2025 and 2026 quarterbacks, and more.

Yikes.

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Was there one? Curious to hear what Braun has to say…

Just got the email for that. Money grab there as well. This year $300 last year $180. But with no East lot and local communities trying to ban street parking, did not seem much in the was of alternatives so paid the price. Man this has been an expensive year

Tied with Duke. Why can’t we have nice things??

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After a frustrating start to the B1G regular season at yet another lakeside stadium, the Cats welcome Bye to Evanston.

Cats fans are hoping that Bye will be an injury-free opportunity for the team to work on its offense which was kept out of the end zone in Seattle. Cam Porter who was out for the Washington game will have another week to recuperate.

Prediction:

NU 2
Bye 0

It's all about safety.

This is insane.

It was a very abrupt decision to change starters given the more conservative history that we've had with QB changes.

But the story of the EIU game would have been so different if we had just gotten to see only 12 or 13 attempts by Lausch in the second half with 3 or 4 completions (i.e. if Braun had kept Wright as starter and then just inserted Lausch in for some drives in the 2nd half).

It's worth giving credit to Braun on the starting decision because Lausch looked like a completely different quarterback once he got into the rhythm of the game and went on to complete most of his attempts (something like 17 for 19) the rest of the way with 11 in a row at one point.

Obviously, the level of competition ramps up with Big Ten play starting and @Washington will be a tough game. So it's a good thing Lausch at least got a full game to warm up and get any jitters/nerves out of his system.

All times CENTRAL. Rankings come from the AP poll. All games available nationally unless otherwise indicated. I will add announcers as they are assigned.

Northwestern is off this week.

And the rest:

Friday, September 27

Washington @ Rutgers
7:00 PM, FOX
PxP: Tim Brando
Color: Devin Gardner

Saturday, September 28

Minnesota @ #12 Michigan
11:00 AM, FOX
PxP: Gus Johnson
Color: Joel Klatt

Maryland @ Indiana
11:00 AM, BTN
PxP: Jeff Levering
Color: Jake Butt

Nebraska @ Purdue
11:00 AM, Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Jac Collinsworth
Color: Michael Robinson

Wisconsin @ #13 USC
2:30 PM, CBS
PxP: Brad Nessler
Color: Gary Danielson

#19 Illinois @ #9 Penn State
6:30 PM, NBC
PxP: Noah Eagle
Color: Todd Blackledge

#3 Ohio State @ Michigan State
6:30 PM, Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Andrew Siciliano
Color: Colt McCoy

#8 Oregon @ UCLA
10:00 PM, FOX
PxP: Connor Onion
Color: Mark Helfrich

Iowa is also off this week.

MORE PFF ANALYSIS: Monday Washington PFF Analysis (Snap counts)

Grades have been finalized for Northwestern's grueling 24-5 loss at Washington.

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Playing football doesn't cause people to get Parkinson's.
It only increases the probability.

Favre took a lot of big hits and played a long time.
Is that the silver lining?

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/24/sport/brett-favre-parkinsons-disease-spt-intl/index.html

I didn't catch the post-game conference, but I'm wondering if Braun commented on our passing/no running strategy on that set of downs, and even if he didn't, what do we think the rationale was?

I would imagine Lujan was thinking he knew the defense was well prepared for the run and we had a depleted line, no Porter, and no chance to punch it in. I'm not saying this was "right" but we obviously saw the results of what actually happened, and I'm just wondering if there was an explanation that I missed.

Do we know anything about Porter? When he was injured, will he be back after the bye?

He’s not Dan Marino or Aaron Rogers but he’s clearly the best we got. Let’s go Lausch.

Down to top five. Also scheduled to visit Iowa, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, all after he visits NU.

Would be a huge get- 4 star, #65 in 2025 class per TOS.

Everyone else is talking about the game and everything, but I just want to say something about the venue:

The weather was beautiful (the mountain was out!) and the venue was fantastic. I sat way the hell up in 326 (maybe five-yard-line going straight up on the north side) and thought it would be terrible, but the view was as good as I could want, and I could see the entire field. Stuff like Bryce Kirtz being wide open on a play where Jack Lausch never looked at him, or that Himon was clearly going to break one on his long KR but that another fast guy had an angle on him for like 40 yards and they were going to meet right around the end zone. I could truly tell when Lausch held the ball too long (which was a lot) because I could see it all.

There were obnoxious fans in our section, but they were regular obnoxious and not "I fear for my life" obnoxious. The place got LOUD at times, including before the controversial field-goal attempt. I don't know if Braun and company were intimidated by the noise, but I can imagine that they felt like getting the three points would quiet the crowd somewhat, whereas a fourth-down stop would effectively make it nearly impossible to overcome the crowd the rest of the way. I'm not saying I would have kicked there, but my guess is they were weighing the pros and cons considerably at that moment and just couldn't pull the trigger the way a more experienced coach might. FWIW, Fitz would have gone for it there for sure, but maybe not in just his second season as a coach.

Overall, loved Seattle and the purple everywhere, even though 95% of the purple we saw was for U-Dub. Campus was great and my son will definitely apply there, even going so far as to say these are his two top choices at this point and jokingly telling me before the game that his top choice is riding on the result. He said, "Go Cats!" to every Northwestern shirt/hat he saw the whole trip, but when he was rocking his brand-new Washington sweatshirt on the plane yesterday, he got his first "Go Dawgs!" from a stranger and my heart died a little.

Running back Ronny Johnson somehow one-upped his performance in the last roundup, rushing for five touchdowns last week. I cover his big game, defensive end Jonah Hayes leading his team in tackles, wins from the 2025 and 2026 quarterbacks, and more.

I don’t see any social media posts from Sanders but Cade posted. Any intel Matt / Lou?

4th and goal from the 1 down 15 and we kick a fg? We are an unserious program.

Northwestern Spirit Team Leads 1,100 Fans in Go U Northwestern at N-Zone Northwestern Alumni Tailgate before University of Washington game.

It never gets old hearing and joining in with the singing of Northwestern University’s heralded fight song “Go U Northwestern.”

Watch and join in as the Northwestern Spirit Squad leads at the pregame N-Zone Alumni Tailgate at the University of Washington before 1,100 gathered Northwestern fans.

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Snap count analysis from Northwestern's 24-5 loss at Washington. Grades will be finalized and analyzed on Wednesday.

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Northwestern made the Top 4 yesterday for four-star Cali CB Jaden Mickey, along with Notre Dame, Oregon and Cal. Blue and Gold's Mike Singer caught up with Mickey to break down his four favorites. This is what he had to say about NU:

Northwestern: “Another great academic school with a powerful degree. Their defense has been great. I watched Greg Newsome all last year. The longevity of the coaching staff is another thing. They sign great contracts and have a stable coaching staff.”

Love the Greg Newsome reference. That's what having NFL guys can do for you in recruiting. Here's the link to Singer's story:

Rest of the league

All times Eastern

Friday October 4
Michigan State at Oregon - 9pm FOX

Saturday October 5
UCLA at Penn State -Noon FOX
Purdue at Wisconsin - Noon BTN

Iowa at Ohio State - 3:30 CBS
Indiana at Northwestern - 3:30 BTN
Rutgers at Nebraska - 4pm FS1

Michigan at Washington - 7:30 NBC
USC at Minnesota - 7:30 BTN

Bye: Maryland, Illinois