Twenty years ago, Rutgers finished the 2006 season at 11-2 and was ranked No. 12 in the final AP Top 25 poll. That seems like forever ago -- probably because it was -- but do the Scarlet Knights have hope of ever reaching those heights again?
Rutgers went without a winning season from 1993-2004, until the team went 7-5 in Greg Schiano's fifth year. That kicked off a decade of success for the Scarlet Knights, during which they compiled a 79-49 record under Schiano and Kyle Flood.
After that, the Big Ten sank its teeth into Rutgers, and the program has won six or more games twice since 2015. The high-water marks were back-to-back 7-6 seasons in 2023 and 2024.
Rutgers has already gone from conference bottom-feeder to perennial contender once in its history. A lot has changed since then, and the modern Big Ten is a much different beast than the Big East, but schools like Indiana have given dilapidated football programs hope that things can change quickly.
So, how realistic is a potential Big Ten ascension for Rutgers? Things broke the right way for the Scarlet Knights in the Big East, and it would take another perfect storm for them to join the Big Ten's upper echelon.
Demythologizing Rutgers' Big East run
Before we dive into how Rutgers could restore its former glory, we have to dive deeper into how the program achieved that glory in the first place.
In 2004, Miami and Virginia Tech departed the Big East to join the ACC. That left a lot of wins on the table for other programs, and Schiano should get credit for taking advantage of that, but we also don't have to pretend that the Scarlet Knights were playing in anything but a hollow shell of the Big East.
Here are the conference standings from Rutgers' magical 2006 season:
| Team | Overall | Conference |
|---|---|---|
1. Louisville | 12-1 | 6-1 |
2. Rutgers | 11-2 | 5-2 |
11-2 | 5-2 | |
9-4 | 4-3 | |
5. Cincinnati | 8-5 | 4-3 |
6. Pittsburgh | 6-6 | 2-5 |
7. UConn | 4-8 | 1-6 |
8. Syracuse | 4-8 | 1-6 |
Although the Scarlet Knights didn't win the Big East that season, they did upset No. 3 Louisville in what is likely the biggest win in program history. Late-season letdowns against Cincinnati and No. 15 West Virginia prevented Rutgers from finishing atop the standings.
A tie for second is as close as Rutgers came to winning the Big East, even after its heavy-hitters left. Over their last seven seasons in the Big Ten, the Scarlet Knights were just six games above .500 in conference play at 30-24.
Given the history of Rutgers football until that point, that is a major success for the program. Schiano even got a well-earned shot at being an NFL coach.
It's just that the days of getting USF, UConn, Syracuse and Cincinnati in conference play are over for the Scarlet Knights, and they aren't coming back.
Big financial investment required
Like it or not, money is a prerequisite to success on the football field nowadays. Because of that, the Scarlet Knights are working at a significant disadvantage.
According to CBS Sports' Chris Hummer and John Talty, Rutgers is paying between $20-30 million for its football roster this season, which puts it on the lower end of the Big Ten spectrum. That would explain why the Scarlet Knights' 2026 transfer class ranked 81st overall and dead last in the conference.
It certainly doesn't help that the Rutgers athletic department accumulated a $78 million budget deficit in the 2025 fiscal year, per NJ.com. Even if the Scarlet Knights wanted to reset with a coaching change, could they afford to pay Schiano's $17.3 million buyout?
If Rutgers wants to run the Indiana playbook and go from Big Ten joke to juggernaut overnight, it needs a significant cash injection. But where will that money come from?
Do the Scarlet Knights have a very wealthy and sports-crazed alumnus like the Hoosiers do in Mark Cuban? If not, can Oscar-nominee Sebastian Stan, Emmy-nominee Jane Krakowski and two-time MLB All-Star Todd Frazier pool their money to give the Scarlet Knights some help?
Until the school and a small collection of wealthy boosters decide to fund a much bigger football budget, it'll be tough for Rutgers to ascend beyond the Big Ten's lower class.
The best-case scenario
I know this has been a largely negative outlook on the future of Rutgers football, but there is a silver lining. For most of the Scarlet Knights' existence in the Big Ten, they played in the East Division. That side of the conference was loaded, and Rutgers played Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State annually. That would be difficult to overcome for most programs around the country.
Thanks to conference expansion, divisions are a thing of the past, and the Scarlet Knights don't begin every season with a guaranteed three losses. Unfortunately for Rutgers, however, it got something of a tough draw in 2026 with games against USC, Indiana, Michigan and Penn State.
In other years, the schedule should be more favorable, and that's when Rutgers can make its move. In those instances, could the Scarlet Knights become what Purdue was under Jeff Brohm? The Boilermakers had the right coaching staff in place and took advantage of softer conference schedules in the West, and they won 17 games combined in Brohm's last two seasons on the job.
It's hard to see Rutgers competing for conference championships in a Big Ten loaded with blue bloods -- and new money like Indiana. That said, the ceiling is certainly higher than what the Scarlet Knights have shown through two games in 2026.
