Tale of the Tape of Minnesota- Rutgers: a look at how two of the worst teams in recent Big Ten history got here

Twitter has already blown up with jokes about today's matchup between Minnesota and Rutgers (noon, BTN) with some pledging to watch with about the same can't-turn-away intrigue of two trains crashing into each other.

The truth is, Rutgers is the worst major-conference team in the nation -- by a good margin -- and the Gophers -- who were no powerhouse themselves -- could likely take the prize for the most dramatic last two weeks with one player dismissed, three suspended and another out with a broken foot.

Folks, this isn't going to be pretty.

The Gophers won the first matchup with Rutgers -- on Feb. 23 -- by 22 points at home, but that was when the Gophers had nine scholarship players available and Rutgers had only six. The tables have turned, as the Scarlet Knights should have eight Saturday to the Gophers' five with Rutgers star Corey Sanders back in the fold.

But the only real storyline is this: it's a matchup of two of the worst teams in recent Big Ten history playing to avoid being the epic loser of the ugliest game of the season. Someone has to win.

How did we get here? Star copy editor Ken Chia helps us take a look, below:

The Tale of the Tape

Gophers: 8-21, 2-15 Big Ten. No. 241 on CBSSports.com RPI, No. 177 on Kenpom.com.

Rutgers: 6-24, 0-17 Big Ten. No. 285 on CBSSports.com RPI, No. 306 on Kenpom.com.

Big Ten skid

Gophers: Founding member of the conference set a program record by losing its first 13 Big Ten games, breaking a mark set in 1923.

Rutgers: In its second Big Ten season, it's trying to avoid the first winless Big Ten campaign since Northwestern in 1999-2000.

Gophers: Norwood Teague, who hired Richard Pitino in 2013 but resigned in disgrace last year amid sexual harassment allegations.

Rutgers: Julie Hermann, who hired Eddie Jordan in 2013 but was fired last year after 2½ years of controversy over her tenure.

Suspended players

Gophers: Nate Mason, Kevin Dorsey and Dupree McBrayer are suspended the rest of the season; the suspension came days after sex videos were posted on Dorsey's social media accounts.

Rutgers: Standout freshman Corey Sanders just returned after sitting out four games for "violation of team rules," while injured Deshawn Freeman is suspended for "failure to meet team responsibilities."

Gophers: Joey King, the only remaining senior on the roster, broke his right foot Wednesday; freshman Jarvis Johnson wasn't allowed to play due to a heart condition.

Rutgers: Big men Freeman, Greg Lewis, Ibrahima Diallo and Shaq Doorson have all missed time; fifth-year senior Lewis is trying to play through a long list of injuries.

Shocking win

Gophers: Ended that 0-13 start to Big ten play last month by stunning Maryland, at the time the No. 6 team in the country.

Rutgers: Beat Wisconsin ... last year, and has lost every Big Ten game since. But the Badgers ended up playing for the national title.

Gophers: Led by five vs. Illinois with 70 seconds left, but missed free throws cost them the lead and they lost in overtime.

Rutgers: Came back from down seven in overtime vs. Illinois to force a second, then third, OT, but ran out of gas and lost by nine.

Not-so-close moment

Gophers: Trounced twice by Northwestern, losing by 25 at home before losing by 24 at Evanston a month later.

Rutgers: Lost 107-57 at Purdue, which had 63-23 advantage in rebounds and turned that into 30 second-chance points.