As the 2025-26 Big Ten men’s basketball season nears its final stretch, the Maryland Terrapins (10-14, 3-10 Big Ten) will travel to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (9-15, 2-11 Big Ten) on Sunday at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway. This matchup features a pair of struggling squads looking to gain some confidence and rhythm with league play nearing a close. Before this contest begins, I've got you covered with my Maryland vs Rutgers prediction.
Pick: Rutgers -2.5 ATS PRO
Confidence: 2.5 out of 5
Maryland enters this contest with some recent positive momentum after breaking a tough stretch with wins over Iowa and Minnesota, showcasing improved shooting efficiency and better rebounding that have helped push them forward in Big Ten play. A significant factor this season has been the absence of leading scorer Pharrel Payne, who has struggled with a leg injury dating back to December, leaving a scoring void that Maryland has worked to fill with contributions from the likes of David Coit and sophomore forward Solomon Washington.
Rutgers has endured a grueling season, sitting near the bottom of the conference with a lengthy losing streak. Head coach Steve Pikiell has been on the hot seat this year and a strong close to the season might be needed for him to keep his job. A key contributor for the Scarlet Knights is junior guard Tariq Francis, who leads his squad in scoring with 16.5 points per game and remains a central piece of Rutgers’ offense.
Both of these teams enter this game in the bottom five in the Big Ten standings going into Sunday's play. They are not likely to make enough progress to earn a decent seed in the upcoming Big Ten tournament, but can still improve their seeding over the next few weeks and games like this one are crucial to achieving that goal.
Recent history between these programs has seen Maryland hold an edge, including a 90-81 victory last season that featured a 29-point, 15-rebound performance from Derik Queen. That said, Rutgers has a chance to build confidence at home and the Terrapins don't have the elite frontcourt that they did last season, when they made a deep NCAA Tournament run. Maryland is 10-14 against the spread going into this game, while Rutgers is 11-13 against the spread this year.
Score Projection: Rutgers 75 – Maryland 71 ATS PRO
Win Probability: Rutgers 55%, Maryland 45% ATS PRO
This Big Ten clash represents a chance for both programs to build late-season confidence, but it's hard to feel all that confident in either of these teams based on what we've seen from them in Big Ten play this year. I'm going to go with Rutgers to win this contest and cover the spread on their home floor, thanks in large part to Maryland's 2-6 road record for the season.
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