Being Proactive

[Hondo 77]

How Rutgers Crashed the Big Ten

 

[Rufus]

That was an interesting read to learn what went on behind the scenes. Rutgers has become more competitive in the B1G over time in many of the sports after finishing last or near the bottom half of conference standings in almost every sport for several years.

 

[billybud]

That was an interesting read to learn what went on behind the scenes. Rutgers has become more competitive in the B1G over time in many of the sports after finishing last or near the bottom half of conference standings in almost every sport for several years.

Being competitive in football will be difficult for Rutgers. Lasr season they were 1-8 in conference...the year before..0-9.

Basketball ? They are #1 in B1G Standings so far this season and #3 last season....

 

[Ha Who]

Location location location

 

[CL82]

This is a great read, other than the throwaway slam at Connecticut. Here’s the takeaway in a nutshell:

 

[Ldandy]

Rutgers always made sense from an institutional standpoint. They fit in perfectly with PSU, OSU, MSU, etc. Their athletic department was a disaster for decades as there was a constant struggle between the academic and athletic sides over what the scale and mission of sports should be at the school.

Many wanted RU to be like a Penn State or Ohio State, while others would have been fine with them being Lehigh or Delaware. It finally took the promise of an incredible change in financial fortune to get most everyone pulling the rope in the same direction. The BTN was the catalyst for their inclusion, and I'm not sure that anyone can argue that. However, to their credit they have reciprocated this gift by reinvesting in their programs to become competitive in multiple sports outside of football.

I've seen some of this internal struggle in UConn's Fanbase from being a poster here for several years. Despite the mountain of evidence demonstrating that investment in football is a near necessity for inclusion in a P5 League, there were still a number of people who would have been happy to de-emphasize the sport and stay in The Big East forever. Thankfully it appears that a far smarter group is winning. Commitment to football has remained steady with the additions of AD Dave and Jim Mora. Other leagues like The Big 12 may be taking notice. With a move away from a model dependent on a school's location within a market to a format that will be heavily streaming based, schools like Uconn will have a better opportunity to demonstrate value.

 

[UConnJim]

Being competitive in football will be difficult for Rutgers. Lasr season they were 1-8 in conference...the year before..0-9.

Basketball ? They are #1 in B1G Standings so far this season and #3 last season....

Rutgers has the ability to compete in football in the Big 10, but they need an innovative coach, not a retread like Schiano. His offense is horrible. There is enough talent in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, DC, New York, and New England, all within driving distance, as well as in the transfer portal for them to be competitive.

People forget about how bad Rutgers basketball was before Steve Pikiell arrived. Rutgers had not made an NCAA tournament or had a greater than 0.500 conference record since the 1990/1991 season.

 

[SubbaBub]

Being in the NYC DMA during the 3 year period where the number of cable boxes mattered. End of story.

 

[Husky68]

Rutgers has the ability to compete in football in the Big 10, but they need an innovative coach, not a retread like Schiano. His offense is horrible. There is enough talent in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, DC, New York, and New England, all within driving distance, as well as in the transfer portal for them to be competitive.

People forget about how bad Rutgers basketball was before Steve Pikiell arrived. Rutgers had not made an NCAA tournament or had a greater than 0.500 conference record since the 1990/1991 season.

Tough to be competitive when other teams in you half of the big 14 are ranked 3,4,5,29,48,69.

 

[Eavesdrop]

The Big Ten's elimination of divisions should generally help Rutgers (and Maryland) a bit.

Not playing Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State every season probably adds what a half (maybe a full) game to their season win projections most years.