UConn escape plan - The Big East

[HoosierPal]

Bottom line, Rutgers does not belong in the Big Ten, the ACC or the Big East. They are a mid-major school at best who never should have left the A-10.

You had better call the Big Ten office NOW. Tell them about their mistake. Tell them that you-know-better. And then tell the Big Ten how they should handle the rest of the season, seeing that Rutgers 10 basketball conference games left. I am sure they will thank you for bringing this oversight to their attention.

[BEwannabe]

Rutgers and Maryland are in the B1G because Ohio State and Michigan wanted them as they both have a huge presence in those markets.

[billyjack]

General comment about Rutgers...

Their basketball arena has a really odd set-up. I'm going to screw up the details, but i think it's on the Joyce Kilmer Campus, in a location that actually has a ton of space with wide open grassy fields.

A cousin of mine works in the "RAC", and the first time i met him there i got lost (I still get lost) and didn't recognize the RAC as an athletic center... it's not near the main campus, and it looks like just a large white science building or something. Parking is kind of a pain, and to go to a game, you have to drive. I've never actually been to the main campus or quad, and i think to get there from the RAC, you'd have to cross a series of divided highways and a river.

It wouldn't happen for a long time, but i think the team would be better served either with a new 10k+ seat arena on the main campus, or something closer to the train line. Or maybe at the Meadowlands (if that arena still exists). As it is now, especially in winter, it's like traveling across the Russian steppes to get to a game. Also, the RAC seats around 6k or 7k, and i think concessions are limited.

Inside the RAC it's clean, and the locker rooms are gorgeous and modern. The athletic department offices and cubicles are just upstairs from the court, which is kinda different. You can step out of a cubicle, walk twenty feet, and look over a railing down at the court. On the other end of the court from the offices (behind the basket on the right when you're watching games on TV) is a wide open unused space... maybe a back entrance is located there.

The football stadium seats 50+k, and is down closer to the river on the edge of the Joyce Kilmer campus. I know they renovated and expanded the stadium, and I think parking is good, but i haven't spent much time there.

Anyway, the RAC was built around the time of their 1976 Final Four. It must've been state-of-the-art back then, but now i think does not help with their recruiting and all.

[RDinNY]

I went to the RAC once for a night game. The parking lot was pitch black. A lawsuit waiting to happen. Put some damn lights out there.

[senditinjerome]

General comment about Rutgers...

Their basketball arena has a really odd set-up. I'm going to screw up the details, but i think it's on the Joyce Kilmer Campus, in a location that actually has a ton of space with wide open grassy fields.

A cousin of mine works in the "RAC", and the first time i met him there i got lost (I still get lost) and didn't recognize the RAC as an athletic center... it's not near the main campus, and it looks like just a large white science building or something. Parking is kind of a pain, and to go to a game, you have to drive. I've never actually been to the main campus or quad, and i think to get there from the RAC, you'd have to cross a series of divided highways and a river.

It wouldn't happen for a long time, but i think the team would be better served either with a new 10k+ seat arena on the main campus, or something closer to the train line. Or maybe at the Meadowlands (if that arena still exists). As it is now, especially in winter, it's like traveling across the Russian steppes to get to a game. Also, the RAC seats around 6k or 7k, and i think concessions are limited.

Inside the RAC it's clean, and the locker rooms are gorgeous and modern. The athletic department offices and cubicles are just upstairs from the court, which is kinda different. You can step out of a cubicle, walk twenty feet, and look over a railing down at the court. On the other end of the court from the offices (behind the basket on the right when you're watching games on TV) is a wide open unused space... maybe a back entrance is located there.

The football stadium seats 50+k, and is down closer to the river on the edge of the Joyce Kilmer campus. I know they renovated and expanded the stadium, and I think parking is good, but i haven't spent much time there.

Anyway, the RAC was built around the time of their 1976 Final Four. It must've been state-of-the-art back then, but now i think does not help with their recruiting and all.

Non-Rutgers alum but lifelong central jersey native here...

While outdated by today's standards, the RAC is a great place to watch a college b-ball game. Not a bad seat in the house and it gets really loud when the crowd has something to cheer about. However, other than the Wisky game earlier this season, these moments have been few and far between.

A few years ago when Pernetti was AD, there were talks to completely renovate the RAC. Then the Mike Rice fiasco happened and those plans got shelved. Now that they're in the B1G, have the new AD in place and have Eddie Jordan in place, those talks have resumed. Here is an old article about the planned renovation with a rendering:

http://www.nj.com/rutgersbasketball/ind ... r_tim.html

Regarding the location, the RAC is actually on the Livingston campus...Joyce Kilmer is a rest stop on the Turnpike. They pretty much had to build it there because it wasn't feasible to build it in New Brunswick (college ave campus). Other than College Ave and Livingston, Rutgers has 3 other campuses surrounding New Brunswick - Busch campus (where the FB stadium is located), Cook (the agricultural school) and Douglass (the all-women's college). All of these campuses are interconnected by a network of shuttle buses. Therefore, it's possible and very likely to live on one campus and have classes on another.

[billyjack]

General comment about Rutgers...

Their basketball arena has a really odd set-up. I'm going to screw up the details, but i think it's on the Joyce Kilmer Campus, in a location that actually has a ton of space with wide open grassy fields.

A cousin of mine works in the "RAC", and the first time i met him there i got lost (I still get lost) and didn't recognize the RAC as an athletic center... it's not near the main campus, and it looks like just a large white science building or something. Parking is kind of a pain, and to go to a game, you have to drive. I've never actually been to the main campus or quad, and i think to get there from the RAC, you'd have to cross a series of divided highways and a river.

It wouldn't happen for a long time, but i think the team would be better served either with a new 10k+ seat arena on the main campus, or something closer to the train line. Or maybe at the Meadowlands (if that arena still exists). As it is now, especially in winter, it's like traveling across the Russian steppes to get to a game. Also, the RAC seats around 6k or 7k, and i think concessions are limited.

Inside the RAC it's clean, and the locker rooms are gorgeous and modern. The athletic department offices and cubicles are just upstairs from the court, which is kinda different. You can step out of a cubicle, walk twenty feet, and look over a railing down at the court. On the other end of the court from the offices (behind the basket on the right when you're watching games on TV) is a wide open unused space... maybe a back entrance is located there.

The football stadium seats 50+k, and is down closer to the river on the edge of the Joyce Kilmer campus. I know they renovated and expanded the stadium, and I think parking is good, but i haven't spent much time there.

Anyway, the RAC was built around the time of their 1976 Final Four. It must've been state-of-the-art back then, but now i think does not help with their recruiting and all.

Non-Rutgers alum but lifelong central jersey native here...

While outdated by today's standards, the RAC is a great place to watch a college b-ball game. Not a bad seat in the house and it gets really loud when the crowd has something to cheer about. However, other than the Wisky game earlier this season, these moments have been few and far between.

A few years ago when Pernetti was AD, there were talks to completely renovate the RAC. Then the Mike Rice fiasco happened and those plans got shelved. Now that they're in the B1G, have the new AD in place and have Eddie Jordan in place, those talks have resumed. Here is an old article about the planned renovation with a rendering:

http://www.nj.com/rutgersbasketball/ind ... r_tim.html

Regarding the location, the RAC is actually on the Livingston campus...Joyce Kilmer is a rest stop on the Turnpike. They pretty much had to build it there because it wasn't feasible to build it in New Brunswick (college ave campus). Other than College Ave and Livingston, Rutgers has 3 other campuses surrounding New Brunswick - Busch campus (where the FB stadium is located), Cook (the agricultural school) and Douglass (the all-women's college). All of these campuses are interconnected by a network of shuttle buses. Therefore, it's possible and very likely to live on one campus and have classes on another.

Thanks for the information on Rutgers. I think there is a "Joyce Kilmer Drive" then, near the RAC.

[Frank the Tank]

So, anyone who didn't see Rutgers getting a seat at the table doesn't know Jack about realignment? Well, you were the only one who saw Rutgers getting an invitation. No one else saw it coming.

Let's review a few basic facts.

1. Rutgers was invited o the Big Ten in November, 2012.

2. Despite all the rumors swirling around about realignment in 2012, everyone was taken by surprise when the B1G made. its announcement that it was taking Rutgers and Maryland. It was a well guarded secret. But you saw it coming?

3. If the Big Ten had expanded with UConn, the ACC would have taken Rutgers? Why? The B1G decision was about markets. The ACC decision was about upgrading football. Why wouldn't the ACC have made the same decision to take Louiscille. In 2012, Louisville (11-2) was Big East champs, playing in the Sugar Bowl. Rutgers (9-4) was an also ran. Louisville was the better football upgrade.

4. By 2012, Greg Schiano was gone. Before him, Rutgers football was horrible. As a result, there were a lot of misgivings about the future of their football program. To make matters worse, their basketball program was terrible as well. Those things didn't matter to the Big Ten, but they did matter to the ACC.

There was no seat at the table being saved for anyone. If there was, TCU and Utah wouldn't have been taken before Rutgers, Syracuse, and Pitt. The Big Ten certainly didn't expand so that Rutgers could get a seat at the table. Rutgers was simply in the right place at the right time.

The *timing* of Rutgers getting added to the Big Ten was surprising since it seemed that we were in a lull for conference realignment. However, the fact that Rutgers was added to the Big Ten overall was not at all surprising to those following conference realignment. The more surprising item was that Maryland was willing to leave the ACC. Back in the spring of 2010 (when the Big Ten was still at 11 and no power conference had made any expansion moves at all), I had a media person come on my blog to analyze the potential increases subscriber (based on market size) and advertising revenue (based on viewership) for the Big Ten Network depending upon which schools were added. We just looked at "academically acceptable" schools from the Big 12 and Big East (AAU members) along with Notre Dame and one particular ACC school (just for s**ts and giggles). The #1 most valuable possible addition was Texas, which was no surprise. The next 3 on the list: Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland. Hmmm.... who did the Big Ten end up adding?

Rutgers is an AAU school (AKA top academic credentials) with an FBS program located *directly* in the New York City market along with a growing state with great recruiting grounds. (When I say recruiting grounds, it's not just for football players. The Big Ten public universities are depending upon more out-of-state tuition-paying students from the East Coast to balance their budgets, and the state that sends the most such students happens to be New Jersey specifically.) They were going to get taken care of eventually, whether it was by the Big Ten or ACC. The Big Ten has the vehicle (the BTN) to monetize the size of the NYC market, so it makes perfect sense that Rutgers was added (and it paid off since the BTN now has solid distribution in the NYC market, which is the only market that can approach the household numbers of the state of Texas). When the Big Ten announced it was looking at expansion at the end of 2009, Rutgers was heavily discussed from day one as a potential candidate. I had more discussions about Rutgers on my blog during that conference realignment period than any other school besides Texas (and, believe me, we looked at every single Big Ten expansion possibility up and down and from every possible angle).

[GumbyDamnit!]

I have nothing new to offer other than this... Rutgers to the B1G? Thank God and good riddance.

To the new BE members, you should feel extremely fortunate to not have that program in any way associated with a conference that you are now a part. Talk about an armpit of a BB program. If the BE, in it's heyday, was a Ferrari, then they were the gum that became permanently wedged into the performance tires after it was run over. And I've heard about Dayton fans, but Rutgers fans were the absolute worst fans to deal with. Their last tourney appearance? 24 years ago. Last tourney win? How about 36 years ago. And yet year after year their fans would talk sh!t.

When I think back to all of the Syracuse, L'ville, Nova, Gtown, Marquette, Pitt tournament credit $ that Rutgers "earned" over the years I am sickened. Rutgers epitomized the idea that some do great things, while others contribute nothing whatsoever and sit close by waiting for their handouts. Disgrace.

[Xudash]

I have nothing new to offer other than this... Rutgers to the B1G? Thank God and good riddance.

To the new BE members, you should feel extremely fortunate to not have that program in any way associated with a conference that you are now a part. Talk about an armpit of a BB program. If the BE, in it's heyday, was a Ferrari, then they were the gum that became permanently wedged into the performance tires after it was run over. And I've heard about Dayton fans, but Rutgers fans were the absolute worst fans to deal with. Their last tourney appearance? 24 years ago. Last tourney win? How about 36 years ago. And yet year after year their fans would talk sh!t.

When I think back to all of the Syracuse, L'ville, Nova, Gtown, Marquette, Pitt tournament credit $ that Rutgers "earned" over the years I am sickened. Rutgers epitomized the idea that some do great things, while others contribute nothing whatsoever and sit close by waiting for their handouts. Disgrace.

Damn. They sound like a combination of idiot Dayton fans coupled with the TEET-sucking excellence of LossSalle for all the years it just cashed checks in the A10.

[gmoser1210]

That's why I hope the current Big East has some type of bylaw that prohibits a team from collecting NCAA tournament revenue if it (1) did not compete in the tournament, AND (2) it's RPI is outside of the top 150 or 200.