Over the long college basketball season, strength-of-schedule becomes less and less of a factor as teams all play the same conference competition.  But early in the campaign, there can be instances where schedule strength can be meaningful.

Syracuse is a better team than Rutgers, and they deserve to be favored over the Scarlet Knights.  But when you’re comparing these two teams, realize that the schedule has certainly favored the Orange so far.

Syracuse is 3-0 in conference play, with wins over Seton Hall, South Florida, and Depaul.   None of these three teams has won a conference game.

Rutgers is 0-3 in conference play, with losses to Pitt, Connecticut, and Marquette.  None of these teams has lost a conference game.  Throw in Rutgers last non-conference game against North Carolina and you see three games against Top 10 teams, including the #1 team (Pitt) and the team that Pitt replaced at #1 (North Carolina).

The RAC is a tough place to play, and Rutgers has benefited from that home court advantage in their two home court conference games, losing to Marquette by only 5 and Pitt by only 6.  Led by freshman guard Mike Rosario, coach Fred Hill has gathered some talent at Rutgers.  But the recent level of competition has masked the improvement.

With archrival Georgetown on deck, Syracuse may not be as focused on Rutgers as they could be.  Assuming enough Rutgers fans trudge through the snow to the game tonight, RU should enjoy a solid home court advantage and are talented enough hang around for a good long while if the Orangemen don’t have their mind on business tonight.