New Haven Chargers vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Week 1

Rutgers opens its season laying 24.5 points against a New Haven team that already played at Syracuse on Monday and found a scorer who was not rattled by it.

The Matchup

New Haven visits Rutgers on Friday night at Jersey Mike's Arena in Piscataway, on B1G+, with Rutgers a 24.5-point favorite and a total of 142.5. One of these teams has played a game this season. It is not the favorite.

Rutgers finished 14-20 last season, scoring 70.5 points a game and allowing 75.3, and Friday is its season opener, with a roster that has not played a minute together in a game that counts. New Haven finished 14-17 last season, scoring 64.9 and allowing 66.3, and opened on Monday at Syracuse, losing 74-58 in an ACC building. Rutgers has not played a minute together in a game that counts, and New Haven already has a power conference road game at full speed.

A 24.5-point spread asks a team playing its first game to be sharp for forty minutes against a team that has already played a power conference road game at full speed. That happens. It just does not happen as often as this number needs it to.

Key Factors

New Haven's opener showed a scorer who was not bothered by the building. Teshaun Steele scored 18 points at Syracuse on 7-of-11 shooting, going 2-of-2 from three in 32 minutes, against ACC size and ACC athletes. Moussa Camara added 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting off the bench, so the Chargers have a second source of points when the first option sits. A huge underdog does not need to be better. It needs two or three players who can score against this level, and New Haven just showed it has them.

Rutgers' weakness is on the defensive end, by its own recent history. The Scarlet Knights allowed 75.3 points a game last season while going 14-20, and a defense that leaky gives a settled road team room to run its offense instead of surviving possession to possession. Rutgers also has to find its rhythm in real time on Friday, with rotations and shooting all untested, while New Haven's are already a game old.

The counterpoint is the obvious one, and it is big. Rutgers is a Big Ten team at home, deeper and more athletic at almost every spot, and New Haven scored only 58 points at Syracuse. If Rutgers defends at a Big Ten level from the opening tip, the Chargers may not reach the sixties, and 24.5 stops looking big in a hurry. The bet is that a first game of the season, against a visitor that has already taken a power conference punch this week, is the wrong spot to ask for a blowout this clean.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.