Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs Kansas State Wildcats Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 12/26/2024

Game Time: 5:30 pm ET, Thursday, December 26, 2024

Venue:  Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ 

Where to Watch:  ESPN

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Rutgers +7, KSU -7; Over/Under:  50.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Rutgers +7, KSU -7; Over/Under:  50.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Rutgers +7, KSU -7; Over/Under:  50.5 points

Rutgers Scarlet Knights:  7-5 (4-5) (9th place, Big Ten)

Kansas State Wildcats:  8-4 (5-4) (8th place, Big 12)

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Rutgers Scarlet Knights:  won their last game on the road against the Michigan State Spartans 41-14.

Kansas State Wildcats:  lost their last game on the road against the Iowa State Cyclones 29-21.

Rutgers is entering this game with a 7-5 record overall and they have a 4-5 record in their conference games too. They are 4-3 in their home games, 3-2 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be at a neutral site for this game. They won their last game against Michigan State 41-14. Athan Kaliakmanis was the starting QB and he completed 13/22 passes for 157 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and 0 interceptions. Kyle Monangai led the team in rushing yards with 129 and 1 TD. Ian Strong led the receivers with 55 receiving yards on 4 receptions and 1 TD. Jordan Thompson led the defense in that game with 5 solo tackles and 1 assisted tackle while Dariel Djabome and Jordan Walker each led the defense in sacks with 1. Bo Mascoe came away with the only interception for them in that one.

 

 

 

Kansas State is entering this game with an 8-4 record overall and they have a 5-4 record in their conference games too. They are 5-1 in their home games, 3-3 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be at a neutral site for this game. They lost their last game against Iowa State 29-21. Avery Johnson was the starting QB and he completed 12/28 passes for 220 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. DJ Giddens led the team in rushing yards with 72. Jayce Brown led the receivers with 106 receiving yards on 3 receptions and 2 TDs. VJ Payne led the defense in that game with 8 solo tackles and 4 assisted tackles while Chiddi Obiazor led the defense in sacks with 1. No one on the defense came away with an interception for them in that one.

The current betting odds have Rutgers listed as a 7 point underdog in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Rutgers has looked good in their games this season with their 7-5 record overall which was enough to get them to this game, but their 4-5 conference record has them in the middle of the Big Ten. They had a really good season by their standards though and they will be looking to cap it off with a bowl win. Meanwhile, Kansas State has looked good in their games this season with their 8-4 record overall and their 5-4 conference record which has them in the middle of the Big 12. They were ranked for a lot of the season and were right in the conversation for the Big 12 Championship for a while, but they started to lose some steam at the end of the season and blew their chances to make it. They haven't looked that good lately either, ending the regular season with a loss to Iowa State in a game they had a chance to stop Iowa State from going to the Big 12 Championship. They also looked a lot better on their home field this season as they were only 3-3 in their road games. Rutgers has been trying to get to a bowl game for years and this is one of the best seasons they have had in a while as Greg Schiano has been turning this program around over the last few seasons. Rutgers will be motivated to win this game while Kansas State had much higher expectations all season and ended up falling really short of those. The best way to place a bet here is on Rutgers to cover the spread in this game. 

Rutgers Kansas State Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Thursday, December 26, 2024 (5:30 pm ET start time) is Rutgers 24 K-State 21.

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Rutgers Scarlet Knights: 5-9 ATS after playing their last game on the road. 4-11 ATS when playing against a team with a winning record. 11-3 OVER after playing their last game on the road. 4-1 OVER off a road win. 4-1 OVER after a bye week.

Kansas State Wildcats: 7-1 ATS off a loss against a conference rival. 10-4 ATS after playing their last game on the road. 6-1 ATS versus poor defensive teams - allowing 5.9 yards/play or more. 11-3 OVER after playing their last game on the road. 6-1 OVER versus poor defensive teams - allowing 5.9 yards/play or more.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights:  K. Monangai (RB) Questionable - Undisclosed. N. Brantley (WR) Questionable - Undisclosed. D. Fuse (DB) Questionable - Undisclosed. M. Higgins (TE) Questionable - Undisclosed. E. Rogers (DB) Questionable - Undisclosed. C. Long (WR) Questionable - Undisclosed. M. Ogunniyi (TE) Questionable - Undisclosed. L. Blake (TE) Out - Undisclosed. A. Wright (LB) Out - Undisclosed. T. Needham (OL) Out - Undisclosed. W. Bailey (DL) Out - Undisclosed. V. Konopka (TE) Out - Undisclosed. K. Fletcher (TE) Out - Undisclosed. S. Brown (RB) Out - Leg. B. Felter (OL) Out - Undisclosed. S. Rhodes (OL) Questionable - Undisclosed. M. Toure (LB) Out - Knee.

Kansas State Wildcats:  J. Jackson (WR) Questionable - Undisclosed. B. Palmer (LB) Out - Knee.

“I’ll tell you, 7-5 isn’t what we set out to do before the season. It's the first time it’s been done. So it’s history. It’s special. And you know, for guys that came into my class, like we always talked about leaving the place better than we found it. So I’m glad that we can say that our last year we’re able to make a step in the right direction, in a sense, and then leave a mark as a first team to do something.” - Kyle Monangai after their win against MSU in their regular season finale. 

“Can’t play a team like that and make the mistakes we made. We made some mistakes in that first half that led to points, and you can’t do that against good football teams. That’s obvious. Congratulations to Matt and his team. They’ll represent the Big 12 well. They don’t make mistakes, and we made them today, and that got us down at halftime.” - Chris Klieman after his team’s loss against ISU in their regular season finale. 

WR Duff, KJ 

WR Strong, Ian

WR Miller, Dymere 

TE Higgins, Mike

QB Kaliakmanis, Athan 

RB Monangai, Kyle 

WR Johnson, Keagan 

WR Cephas, Dante 

WR Brown, Jayce

TE Oakley, Garrett 

QB Johnson, Avery

RB Giddens, DJ 

Passing: A. Kaliakmanis (2459)

Rushing: K. Monangai (1279)

Receiving: D. Miller (731)

Touchdowns: K. Monangai (14)

Passing: A. Johnson (2517)

Rushing: D. Giddens (1343)

Receiving: J. Brown (763)

Touchdowns: D. Giddens (8)

Coaches:

Rutgers Scarlet Knights: Greg Schiano (5th season)

Kansas State Wildcats: Chris Klieman (6th season)