There was more to Columbia men’s basketball’s game at Rutgers than the 91-64 final score in the home team’s favor.
More to the game than the first triple-double at Rutgers since 1983. Projected no. 1 or 2 NBA draft pick Dylan Harper had 16 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds.
Columbia entered the game at 11-1, having won at Villanova. A victory at Rutgers, which entered the game at No. 91 in the NET rankings, could have put Columbia in a position to perhaps go 12-1 in nonconference action and pick up the first ever Ivy League men’s at-large bid if it fails to win the Ivy League Tournament. Joe Lunardi’s latest 2025 NCAA Tournament Bracketology pegs the Ivy winner as a No. 14 seed. That could have become a No. 13 seed with a Columbia win over Rutgers.
The Lions’ loss at Rutgers, then, was an opportunity lost for both Columbia and the Ivy League. Columbia had a respectable NET ranking of No. 104 and should dip to the 110-level with the 27-point defeat.