Rutgers Advances to NCAA Tournament, Will Face Notre Dame

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights have made it to the NCAA Tournament as one of eight teams that will participate in the First Four which takes place prior to the official start of the tournament.

Rutgers will square off with Notre Dame on Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio at 9 p.m., the winner will become the 11th seed in the West Regional bracket to face 6th seeded Alabama on Friday.

This will mark the second consecutive year Rutgers has made it to the NCAA Tournament. Last year Rutgers beat Clemson in the first round 60-56, before coming up short against Houston in the  round of 32.

It is only the second time in program history that Rutgers has advanced to the NCAA Tournament for consecutive years. The last time was 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons.

Rutgers went 18-13 this season with 12 conference victories, a program record for wins against the Big Ten conference.

This season, Rutgers became the first unranked program in NCAA history to earn four-consecutive wins over ranked opponents, defeating then-No. 13 Michigan State, No. 16 Ohio State, No. 14 Wisconsin and No. 12 Illinois in February. The Scarlet Knights earned their first-ever win over a No. 1 ranked team, with a buzzer-beating victory over top-ranked Purdue at Jersey Mike's Arena back in January.

As for the NCAA tournament bracket. The number one seeds are: Gonzaga, Arizona, Baylor, and Kansas. Gonzaga is the number one seed in the West Regional bracket that Rutgers finds itself in.

Rutgers is one of three Jersey schools to  make it to the Tournament this year. Seton Hall will face TCU in the first round of the South Regional, while St. Peter's University goes in as a 15th seed, and will face second ranked Kentucky in the East Regional.

Remember to fill out your bracket on Fox Sports Radio New Jersey, and follow the tournament all month to see if you can win grand prizes.