Delaware State Hornets vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights Odds, Spread, and Totals

The Delaware State Hornets will take a road trip up north to face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at 9 p.m. EST on Monday. The Hornets are off to an uninspiring start in the Mid-East Athletic Conference, earning a 5-9 record in the early days of the season, with losses to Virginia State and UMBC highlighting Delaware State's struggles. Rutgers has also been mediocre, posting a 6-6 mark through 12 games against a much higher level of competition than the Hornets. The Knights should be able to establish a win streak on their home floor in this one.

While there have been a few positive moments for the Hornets, their season has been defined by their shortcomings in matchups in which they had a notable upper hand that they failed to capitalize on. Delaware State played games against Niagara and New Haven in addition to the aforementioned losses to Virginia State and UMBC. All of those games were winnable contests, and the Hornets somehow managed to go 0-4 in them. Most recently, they remained in a close matchup with Holy Family University, pulling ahead later in the contest. Now, a date with a Power 4 team looms as one of the toughest matchups of Delaware State's season.

The Scarlet Knights, despite their record, do have a reason to be optimistic about the rest of their season. Of their six losses, five have come to very good teams, with the one outlier coming against Central Connecticut. While the schedule does not exactly ease up in the coming days, the fact that the Scarlet Knights encounter several ranked teams opens the door for a Cinderella run from Rutgers in the regular season. Beating the Hornets would certainly help get the ball rolling.

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Note: The above data was collected on Dec. 29, 2025, and may have changed since writing.

Delaware State Hornets

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Nikos Lagouretos of PickDawgz writes, "In this Delaware State vs Rutgers Prediction, Rutgers is coming as -20.5 home favorites. Rutgers has been the better team this season, as they have a better overall record and have been strong at home and are facing a Delaware State team that has been terrible on the road, with just one win in their 8 road games. But Rutgers is struggling lately, with a 2-6 record in its last 8 games, and is 2-8 against the spread in their last 10. On the flip side, Delaware State has won two of its last three games and is 3-0 against the spread and have a slightly better defense, so I expect them to keep this one relatively close. Take Delaware State and the +20.5 points in this one."