Rutgers–Seton Hall men's basketball rivalry

The Rutgers–Seton Hall men's basketball rivalry, also known as the Garden State Hardwood Classic, is an intercollegiate basketball intrastate rivalry^[1][2][3][4] between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights of Rutgers University in Piscataway, NJ and Seton Hall Pirates of Seton Hall University in Newark, NJ. The series dates to 1916 and the teams have met continuously since 1996, with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Former conference opponents in the Big East, Rutgers left for the American Athletic Conference in 2013 and then the Big Ten in 2014, while Seton Hall continued in the restructured Big East as part of the 2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment. Since changing conferences, the schools have continued to meet annually in the non-conference slate.

Rutgers–Seton Hall men's basketball rivalry

Rutgers Scarlet Knights Seton Hall Pirates
First meeting	February 4, 1916 Rutgers 40, Seton Hall 20
Latest meeting	December 14, 2024 Rutgers 66, Seton Hall 63
Next meeting	2025 Newark, New Jersey
Statistics
Meetings total	75
All-time series	Seton Hall leads, 42–33
Largest victory	Rutgers, 81–49 (1998)
Longest win streak	Seton Hall, 7 (1986–1996)
Current win streak	Rutgers, 2 (2023–Present)

10km
6miles

Rutgers

Seton Hall

  

Locations of Rutgers and Seton Hall

The rivalry is a trophy game, with the Garden State Hardwood Classic trophy at stake.^[5] The 33-pound wooden memento, made from reclaimed Asbury Park boardwalk planks,^[6] is fashioned in the shape of New Jersey with the teams' logos imprinted on it.

Series History

While the teams met intermittently before, the series began to be played more regularly in the 1970s on a near-annual basis. Rutgers joined the Pirates in the Big East Conference in 1995,^[7] ensuring an annual matchup, including several years with a regular season home-and-home. In the early 2000s, a revival in Scarlet Knight fortunes led to several high-profile and heated games between the rivals.^[8] The teams continued to meet annually in the non-conference slate after diverging paths in conference realignment.

After the 2020 game was not scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the teams squabbled about whether to continue the rivalry.^[9] Rutgers had hammered Seton Hall in their previous 2019 meeting in Piscataway but Seton Hall did not schedule the Scarlet Knights for 2020, using the rationale that they could not have fans in the arena due to COVID-19 restrictions.^[10] Rutgers fans accused the Hall of ducking what turned out to be its first NCAA Tournament team in 30 years in order to avoid a second-straight loss. Rutgers’ stance was that it was willing to play at Seton Hall last season and that they should resume the series in Piscataway per the terms of the contract. Seton Hall continued to insist the game be played in Newark or not at all. Ultimately, the Scarlet Knights conceded that the 2021 game would be played in Newark.

Once played, the No. 23-ranked Pirates won 77–63. With the win, Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard moved past P.J. Carlesimo into second place (213 wins) on the program's all-time coaching wins list, behind only Naismith Hall of Famer Honey Russell (294 wins).^[11] Seton Hall also took strides to limit the number of Rutgers fans at the Prudential Center by boxing them out from getting tickets through the normal channels and only 1,500 Scarlet-clad faithful attended. Nonetheless, Seton Hall's efforts reduced the number from the 2016 and 2018 sellouts, in which there were roughly 3,000 Rutgers supporters. The following year, Seton Hall won its second consecutive game in the series in a low-scoring 45–43 contest^[12] and the first time victory in Piscataway since 2015.

Rival Accomplishments

The following summarizes the accomplishments of the two programs.^[13][14]

Team	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	Seton Hall Pirates
NCAA National Titles	0	0
NCAA Final Four Appearances	1	1
NCAA Tournament Appearances	8	14
NCAA Tournament Record	6–9	16–14
Conference Tournament Titles	4	3
Conference Championships	9	4
Consensus First Team All-Americans	1	3
Naismith Players of the Year	0	0
All-time Program Record	1,308–1,265	1,571–1,119
All-time Winning Percentage	.508	.584

Game Results

Rutgers victories

Seton Hall victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 1916 PIscataway Rutgers 40–20 2 1924 Newark Rutgers 43–30 3 1925 Piscataway Rutgers 37–20 4 1929 Piscataway Rutgers 28–25 5 1930 Newark Rutgers 31–27 6 1931 Piscataway Rutgers 37–26 7 1943 Newark Seton Hall 36–18 8 1943 Piscataway Seton Hall 45–31 9 1947 Piscataway Seton Hall 69–52 10 1947 Newark Seton Hall 46–43 11 1949 Piscataway Seton Hall 63–61OT 12 1950 Newark Rutgers 61–59 13 1951 Piscataway Seton Hall 62–44 14 1952 Newark #12 Seton Hall 66–42 15 1974 New York #20 Rutgers 89–81 16 1975 Piscataway Rutgers 119–93 17 1977 New York Seton Hall 89–75 18 1977 Piscataway Rutgers 81–76 19 1977 Piscataway Rutgers 93–78 20 1979 New York Rutgers 88–67 21 1980 Piscataway Rutgers 75–66 22 1981 New York Seton Hall 65–56 23 1983 East Rutherford Rutgers 93–78 24 1986 East Rutherford Seton Hall 109–81 25 1987 East Rutherford Seton Hall 92–72 26 1988 Newark #17 Seton Hall 96–70 27 1989 Piscataway Seton Hall 79–74 28 1990 East Rutherford Seton Hall 90–76 29 1991 Piscataway #12 Seton Hall 77–72 30 1996 Newark Seton Hall 81–78 31 1996 Piscataway Rutgers 70–61 32 1997 Piscataway Seton Hall 75–72 33 1998 Piscataway Rutgers 81–49 34 1998 Newark Seton Hall 64–54 35 1999 Newark Seton Hall 57–55 36 2000 Piscataway Seton Hall 65–63OT 37 2001 Newark Rutgers 70–64 38 2001 Piscataway Rutgers 75–57 No. Date Location Winner Score 39 2002 Newark Seton Hall 67–54 40 2002 Piscataway Rutgers 66–60 41 2003 Newark Seton Hall 58–53 42 2003 Piscataway Seton Hall 62–52 43 2004 Newark Seton Hall 85–58 44 2004 Piscataway Seton Hall 71–70 45 2005 Newark Seton Hall 74–58 46 2005 Piscataway Rutgers 62–61 47 2006 Piscataway Rutgers 82–78 48 2006 Newark Seton Hall 73–67 49 2006 New York Rutgers 61–48 50 2007 Newark Seton Hall 77–72 51 2007 Piscataway Rutgers 74–702OT 52 2008 Piscataway Seton Hall 84–71OT 53 2008 Newark Rutgers 64–61 54 2009 Newark Seton Hall 70–67 55 2009 Piscataway Seton Hall 65–60 56 2010 Newark Seton Hall 76–70 57 2010 Piscataway Seton Hall 85–74 58 2011 Newark Rutgers 66–60 59 2011 Piscataway Seton Hall 69–64 60 2011 Newark Rutgers 76–70OT 61 2012 Piscataway Seton Hall 59–54 62 2012 Newark Rutgers 77–72OT 63 2013 Piscataway Rutgers 57–55 64 2013 Newark Rutgers 56–51 65 2013 Piscataway Seton Hall 77–71 66 2014 Newark Seton Hall 81–54 67 2015 Piscataway Seton Hall 84–55 68 2016 Newark Seton Hall 72–61 69 2017 Piscataway Rutgers 71–65 70 2018 Newark Seton Hall 72–66 71 2019 Piscataway Rutgers 68–48 72 2021 Newark #23 Seton Hall 77–63 73 2022 Piscataway Seton Hall 45–43 74 2023 Newark Rutgers 70–63 75 2024 Piscataway Rutgers 66–63 Series: Seton Hall leads 42–33

References

1. "Seton Hall, Rutgers agree to renew rivalry in '21". ESPN.com. June 8, 2021.
2. NJ.com, Brian Fonseca | NJ Advance Media for (December 12, 2022). "Rutgers falls to rival Seton Hall in rock fight". nj.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
3. "Powell, Seton Hall thwarts late Rutgers rally, 72-66". ESPN.com.
4. Monteiro, Leslie. "For This Rivalry to Shine Nationally, Rutgers and Seton Hall Need to Be Good". Bleacher Report.
5. Accardi, Kristen. "Seton Hall vs. Rutgers: New Jersey rivalry that will last a lifetime". New Jersey 101.5.
6. Witz, Billy (December 13, 2021). "New Jersey Shakes Up Men's College Basketball Rankings" – via NYTimes.com.
7. "Rutgers vs. Seton Hall basketball: A history of high jinks". Asbury Park Press.
8. Finley, Bill (February 27, 2002). "COLLEGE BASKETBALL; Rutgers Revival" – via NYTimes.com.
9. NJ.com, James Kratch | NJ Advance Media for (June 8, 2021). "Rutgers, Seton Hall resume men's basketball rivalry game as sanity prevails". nj.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
10. NJ.com, Brian Fonseca | NJ Advance Media for; Media, Adam Zagoria | For NJ Advance (December 12, 2021). "Rutgers-Seton Hall preview, prediction: Who will win latest installment of N.J.'s premier college basketball rivalry?". nj.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
11. Carino, Jerry. "Seton Hall basketball gets revenge against Rutgers as rivalry returns". Asbury Park Press.
12. "Seton Hall nips rival Rutgers in tight defensive battle". Associated Press. December 12, 2022.
13. "2022-23 Men's Basketball Media Guide (PDF)" (PDF). Rutgers University Athletics.
14. ^{[dead link‍]}