Rutgers vs Maryland Odds, Lines, and Spread

• Big Ten conference play begins for #21 Rutgers and Maryland on Monday, Dec. 14 at 6:00 PM ET at Maryland’s Xfinity Center.
• The Scarlet Knights and Terrapins are 4-4-1 combined against the spread, 8-1 straight up.
• The odds for the game, as well as matchup analysis and a pick, can be found in the article below.

On a football field, this wouldn’t be much of an eye-catching matchup. But guess what, it’s basketball season! And that means #21 Rutgers (4-0) heading to Maryland (4-1) on Monday, Dec. 13 at 6:00 PM ET is a must-see matchup.

These teams have mixed results against the spread (4-4-1 combined), and this should be a good test of Maryland’s offense against Rutgers’ defense. The Terrapins are the slight favorite heading into tomorrow’s game. Here’s a look at the odds for this Big Ten opener:

 #21 Rutgers vs Maryland Odds

Odds as of Dec. 14. Make sure to check out the latest news on Maryland sports betting. 

How They’ve Fared So Far

Rutgers has been perfect, at least from a straight up standpoint, with four victories all by at least 10 points. The first three were all against teams outside of KenPom’s top 150, but their most recent game was a 79-69 victory over a good looking Syracuse squad.

The Scarlet Knights were led in that game by a three-headed monster, with Jacob Young, Ron Harper and Montez Mathis combining for 63 of their team’s points. Rutgers also dominated the boards, out-rebounding Syracuse 42-26.

Maryland has three wins against teams inside KenPom’s top 200, but only one of those was inside the top 150. If the Terrapins had won their most recent matchup, against Clemson, they would almost certainly be ranked. But in their first road matchup of the year, the Terrapins lost pretty handily.

After leading 2-0, Maryland never led again en route to a 67-51 loss. They shot 33 percent from 3-pt. range and turned the ball over 15 times. Not ideal.

Turn the page.

League play starts Monday. pic.twitter.com/v7GUdx2Fz2

— Maryland Men’s Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) December 10, 2020

ATS Analysis

As stated, these teams have been so-so against the spread this season. Rutgers covered in their most recent game against Syracuse as a five-point favorite, but they had a push and two losses before that. To be fair, though, both against the spread losses came by just four points — in games where the Scarlet Knights were favored by 25-plus points.

Dating back to last year, Rutgers is 5-4-1 against the spread in its past 10 games.

🏀🗣 | TOP 3 PLAYS OF THE GAME

👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/KYRcsDe6k1

— Rutgers Men’s Basketball 🏀 (@RutgersMBB) December 1, 2020

Maryland, meanwhile, got blown out against the spread against Clemson, but still holds a 3-2 records against the spread this year. All three of their covers came by over eight points.

Dating back to last year, the Terrapins are 4-5-1 against the spread in their past 10 games.

Another thing to keep in mind is the over/under trend in this game: Maryland and Rutgers have combined to see the over hit in six of their nine games.

Head-to-Head Matchup

The only matchups that really matter here, when you consider the frequency with which rosters turn over, date back to 2018. Since then, Maryland has won three of four straight up — but Rutgers has won three of four against the spread.

So, what do we make of that? Clearly Maryland has been the better team, though that doesn’t always translate on the spread. It’s possible that Rutgers is actually the better team this season, so there could be a bit of a role reversal.

We like that Maryland is at home, where they’ve won five in a row (straight up) dating back to last year. Rutgers hasn’t played on the road yet, so there’s some uncertainty of how that change in environment might affect their strong start.

This is a game to take the over on, too. The over is 5-1 in the Scarlet Knights’ past six games and 6-1 in the Terrapins’ past seven.

Pick: Maryland -2.5 (-110); Over 139.5 (-105)