"Rutgers Athletic Director, Tim Pernetti, reportedly told a small gathering of Rutgers high level donors, that Rutgers was positioning itself for a Big 10 invite that WILL come. Optimistic would be an understatement. It was not a question of if, but when. He broke down conference expansion, BE structure, current landscape, facilities, and what the future holds for Rutgers." -Repost from CR thread.

So if RU were to come to the B1G who would accompany them in their move?

I would be amazed if RU goes to the BIG TEN. Average BIG TEN academics are on par with/better than RU's, so the BIG TEN doesn't need RU academics. The major schools in the BIG TEN can schedule games in NYC whenever they want (see PSU v. SU series at Metlife), so they don't need RU's location. RU basketball isn't any good, and their football isn't special either, so they don't bring revenue-producing athletics. They don't have many fans, so they don't bring TV dollars. However, most importantly, there is no reason for the B1G to expand in and of itself. So, why would the B1G expand unless a really, really attractive school made itself available? **cough Texas and pals when their GOR expires**

RU is *in* the NYC market in the sense that nobody follows Alabama/Oklahoma/Penn State/FSU/Florida/Notre Dame/Nebraska football, because they are in the middle of nowhere. Physical location isn't everything ... the number of fans is.

I see Rutgers to the Big Ten only as a back up plan should rule changes in the NCAA come down the pipeline and the Big Ten finds it really needs to get to 16 in order to take full advantage of the new system.

I don't think those changes ever happen though without a serious breakdown elsewhere which in turn would offer us up some other options.

Rutgers is a definite possibility but we are just going to have to wait and see.