In this crazy, unpredictable, up-is-down, down-is up season, where no team can hold the No. 1 ranking for more than a few minutes, where century-old streaks are destined to die, where all bets are off even against the Stephen F. Austins and Evansvilles of the world, where precedents are shattered and history is made every other night, it’s only fitting that we now contemplate the rising phoenix that is Rutgers basketball.



Rutgers? Yes, Rutgers.



Remarkably, the Scarlet Knights have become a thing in college basketball for the first time in a very long time. They are 12-4 (3-2 Big Ten) and ranked 26th in the NET. They have beaten three top-40 KenPom.com teams (Wisconsin, Seton Hall and Penn State). They have won at Nebraska, which Purdue and Iowa failed to do, and beat Stephen F. Austin at home, which Duke failed to do.



We’ve been speculating about the delicious possibility that DePaul and Penn State could get back to the NCAA Tournament for the...