Rutgers basketball will be spending a lot of time at home this winter.
The Scarlet Knights, whose full 2025-26 schedule was revealed on Tuesday when the Big Ten announced dates for conference play on the Big Ten Network, are set to play 17 of their 31 regular season games at Jersey Mike’s Arena during the 2025-26 season.
It is lower than last season, when Rutgers played 15 home games thanks to a non-conference slate that featured trips to Las Vegas, Georgia and Newark, and a Big Ten game against Michigan State being played at Madison Square Garden.
The return to a familiar scheduling philosophy matches expectations set by head coach Steve Pikiell early in the offseason.
“I hope to play more games at home because I had to take the team on the road a lot this year,” he said in March. “You’ll be critical of my non-conference schedule, but if I didn’t have to keep taking them on the road (last season), we probably would have got a few more wins at home, especially when we were figuring out our team early on.”
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The highlight of their conference slate will be Tuesday, February 24, when Rutgers will host Washington. Lathan Sommerville, who started at center for the Scarlet Knights as a freshman last winter, transferred to the Huskies this offseason.
Rutgers opens Big Ten play with arguably the most difficult two games possible. After returning from Las Vegas for the Player’s Era Festival, the Scarlet Knights will host Big Ten favorite Purdue before traveling to Ann Arbor to face an elite Michigan team.
Rutgers will open the 2025-26 campaign at home on Wednesday, November 5, against in-state foe Rider.
That contest will begin a five-game home stand to start the season — Maine, Lehigh, American and Central Connecticut State — before the Scarlet Knights head to Las Vegas. Rutgers is set to face SEC powerhouse Tennessee before a rematch with Notre Dame at the Players Era Festival in Sin City.
The Scarlet Knights then return to New Jersey, where they will face in-state rival Seton Hall in Newark on either side of their games against the Boilermakers and Wolverines. They close out their non-conference slate against Penn and Delaware State.
Altogether, Rutgers will pay a combined $585,000 to host its seven non-conference games, according to contracts obtained by NJ Advance Media.
The Scarlet Knights will get chances to earn historic road wins on the following dates:
— Thursday, January 8, against Illinois at the State Farm Center (0-8).
— Saturday, January 31, against USC at the Golen Center (first game there)
— Tuesday, February 3, against UCLA at Pauley Pavilion (0-1).
— Thursday, March 5, against Michigan State at the Breslin Center (0-9).
Here is the Scarlet Knights’ full 2025-26 itinerary (most tip times still to be determined; mobile users can click here to view the graphic):
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Brian Fonseca may be reached at bfonseca@njadvancemedia.com.
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