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Message: [QUOTE="Jerseynole8, post: 2262409, member: 5898"] Very fair and valid post. Penn State isn't Rutgers rival and neither was Syracuse. I'd say in football, outside of Princeton, Rutgers most recent rival would have been UCONN if they had one at all. Both were trying to build their football programs up at the same point in history. The riddle isn't that hard to solve. When it comes to the university in general, good old New Jersey bureaucracy keeps the school tripping over itself. Anyone who went there (and probably even people who didn't) know about the "RU screw". Is there red tape at most public universities? I'm sure to some degree there is. But not like at Rutgers. Anyone who has lived in NJ for any decent amount of time can understand how the culture permeates into the flagship university. When it comes to athletics, it's purely a matter of not everyone being on the same page as to what you want to be. Does Rutgers want to go back to playing Lafayette, Lehigh and Delaware or compete at the highest level? They half-assed the attempt to go "bigger time" for 30 years. Being in an ever-decaying Big East didn't help matters much because it really fed the argument to go back to 1-AA, not move up a level. From politicians, the general public and those within the university itself, everyone was divided as to what RU should do when it came down to sports. Now there is really no going back so no matter how bad they lose on the court or the field, the pathetic cries from trolls on NJ.com are a waste of breath. The school and the state will not give up the payday when they finally get it in 3 years. Also, this is the biggest pro sports market in the country. Even when St. Johns and Big East basketball was in it's glory years in the 80's, it was popular but was it more popular than a very mediocre Knicks franchise? More popular than the Yankees or the Giants in general? Not even close. In states like Ohio, pro sports has been secondary to the Buckeyes for generations. And if you live in Michigan, are you going to take more pride in the Wolverines or the Detroit Lions given the history of both over the past 60 years? How about Wisconsin where there is exactly one pro sports team (albeit a great one) to really boast of? How about Iowa and Nebraska where there are NO pro teams to support? To even most PSU alumni I know, and I know a lot of them as I have several very close friends who went there, their Giants, Jets, Eagles and Steelers are more important to them than Nittany Lions football. Maybe for those in the sticks of central PA it's different but not for those who live in metropolitan areas. Have I myself thought about RU packing up shop and going back to FCS level recently? Absolutely. I've got my Seminoles (grad school and wife went there) who play in a much more college football hungry region than what I've got here. However, and I know people like you are sick of hearing this, you have to give a fully financially vested Rutgers some time in the Big Ten. And they won't even get that until 2020. If they can't get all sports (way) up from that #164 ranking in the next 10-15 years then they never will. Pull the plug. I am realistic enough to envision their best case scenario is being Northwestern (or more like Minnesota because of the wrestling) in sports and I'd sign for that. Northwestern's football has vastly improved over the past 20 years from what it was and Fitzgerald is a solid coach. I think RU's ceiling in basketball is a little (not a lot) higher than Northwestern's given they have a good college on campus arena and at least some decent history to be able to point to. I think Pikiell did a nice job for what he had last year and they have a nice recruiting class so far for 2018. Again, will they become Syracuse or Uconn? LOL no. But they could be a middle of the road Big Ten hoops teams most years with a nice season every now and then. [/QUOTE]

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