And NJ is still one of the top 10-15 states for producing D1 talent annually. Without NJ, the Northeast would lag way behind any other region in the country. The region is not strong but NJ can hold its own against almost any state. PSU, OSU, Michigan, and Wisconsin have been mining NJ talent for decades. In regards to your statement that you need close recruiting ground to build long term success, then BC is the total antithesis to this. Boston College has been a very solid program for over a decade now and they've done it with very little New England presence on their roster. So it can be done if your scouting team knows how to evaluate talent and go after the 2 and 3 stars in states that aren't right in your own backyard as they've done over the last 10-15 years.
Rutgers is so much more desirable than Cuse......give it a break. Cuse is in the middle of no where, has a terrible football program. Rutgers has 50,000 students, a high academic school and has the NY/NJ media...which is a big factor. What does St John's have to do with Rutgers? St Johns had huge support when their B-Ball team was viable. The NY/NJ region does support Rutgers football, that's a fact. NJ has great high school football programs, and a Big Ten school in NJ will help keep the NJ talent in State. College Football in the east still takes a backseat to Pro-Football, but that doesn't mean there is no room for a Big Conference school in the NY market.
No one cares about Rutgers now in NY, just changing conferences won't change that and like I said I don't really like either Syracuse or Rutgers joining the Big 10, at least with Syracuse it would make huge news that their basketball program is coming over, they have at least 1 big time program even if their football team blows. For all the props you guys have been giving Rutgers their basketball program stinks and their football program is just ok and even that is just tied to one man if he goes they may become just like they were before an annual failure. (And that is if they don't take steps back adjusting to a tougher conference) Give me a solid Missouri who has a much better program with St Louis/Kansas City TV markets which I know cares about college sports any day over the gamble that Rutgers will one day be relevant. I have to hear on an annual basis about all the media blasting the Big 10 and the last thing I need is another mediocre to bad team making things worse.
I don't know if it changed under Weiss but Notre Dame used to mine NJ big time for kids. Just off the top of my head Ron Dayne and the kid that followed him at Wisconsin were both from Jersey. Barry Alvarez knew how much talent there was in the state. USC came all the way across the country to get Dwayne Jarrett out of NJ. The Big 10 having NJ as a recruiting area makes them a better conference. That helps these schools in basketball because it's arguable that the NJ/NYC area produce the best talent in the country. The argument about travel , it's only an hour and half flight from Detroit to New York, Chicago to New York, Columbus to NY maybe 2 hours from Minneapolis to NY. That's probably your furthest school or maybe Iowa but the travel is not an issue.
Well if Mizzou entered the Big Ten...you'll hear more of the same. I live in Big Ten Country.....you're preaching to the choir.
Yeah Weiss being a Jersey guy and coaching high school ball in NJ still got his share of Jersey kids but most weren't Top 10 NJ recruits that he got. Off the top of my head he got Kamara from Hoboken, Calabrese from Verona, Williams from Elizabeth, etc. Riddick from Immaculata was probably his best Jersey recruit and the only true Top 10 one I can think of. He inherited Brandon Hoyte, a very good middle backer from central jersey but he wasn't one of his recruits. It definitely does help the Big 10 in basketball. I have a lot of friends who are Rutgers alum. I think they'd be a good fit for the conference. That said, Rutgers hoops is still a joke and the football program is lucky to have a name like Schiano that gives them an identity so we'll see.
Well here is the main issue though, pro sports owns NYC. The question is whether Rutgers football (which might I add is in the dead center of New Jersey unlike the Jets/Giants which is a stone's throw away from Manhattan) can rip out some of the attention the NFL teams currently have? If you think the answer is yes then the move would make sense however I don't think so which would leave you with just New Jersey and a little bit more coverage than what Rutgers has now. And before you mention about the big bad NFL, Florida and Florida St can get as much if not more attention as the NFL teams. Even the Dallas Cowboys are really only co-owners of the state with the University of Texas. College sports has been buried for decades in NYC and I don't think the Rutgers move would change that one bit.
It's not just about the geography of Rutgers location that is working against them. It has more to do with them being an attractive enough candidate (alumni, big east titles, bcs games) than anything else. With winning comes fans, support and growing interest in the overall product. New Brunswick is close enough to midtown manhattan, 45-50 minutes, away to still pull in the entire metro region IF they ever start producing some top level teams year in and year out. However they aren't at that level just yet.
Man, honestly, I'm sorry but I don't think you even have any idea what you're arguing. This is Syracuse vs Rutgers here. I agree Pitt is the best option, but of the two, Cuse has no ground. Just touching on a few of your points... NJ high school football is among the best in the country. In addition, New Jersey is consistently top ten or so when it comes to producing quality college football players across the country. Secondly, Rutgers isn't trying to take over attention from the New York pro football fans. That insane. They're just trying to carve out a niche in the area as an acceptable local alternative, and going to the Big Ten would only legitimize the program to a lot of the New York area fans that are thirsty for major college football. There's enough sports fans in New York to support anything, it's just about providing that option. And about the basketball thing, the Big Ten could probably care less about how adding RU as a BBall school would change things. It'd be nice if they were competitive, but it's a football move. For the same reason, there's no chance Syracuse would want to go to the Big Ten because of basketball, as it would be a major step down for their signature sport.
First of all where in this thread did it specifically mention Syracuse vs. Rutgers? It said Big Ten expansion not just the east coast possibilities. A tangent brought out Syracuse v. Rutgers but overall it was always about all the possibilities of addition. And maybe you miss understood me, because we are practically saying the same thing I am saying making themselves relevant to the NY fan which would mean even if it is a very slight percentage to wrestle away a little of the attention from the pro NFL teams, think of it this way if there isn't any MLB news from Sunday through Saturday the talk and the attention is towards NFL, if you can't change that then there is no room for a niche, it is similar to how the Patriots had to wrestle away attention from the Red Sox to finally become relevant and even that took 3 Super Bowls for that to happen. Between the NFL teams, the baseball teams and even the Knicks and the Nets there isn't room for a college sports niche especially from a New Jersey team. And in my opinion, just simply changing conferences is no where enough to wrestle the attention from the NY fan. The Big Ten's image is nearly as bad as the Big East how would that get NY fans to pay attention. You spout "potential" with the NY media, I think that is a pipe dream.
I meant our disagreement was SU vs RU. We both agreed there are several better options. New York is a lot different than Boston when it comes to sports. Boston has one set of teams for everyone, while New Yorkers are used to having a huge variety of options to choose from. In addition, New York shares the same media coverage with New Jersey, and that will play a mighty big factor in everything. And yes, changing to the Big Ten will absolutely change the way NY fans think about college football because the prestige of the Big Ten far outweighs that of the Big East. Ohio State or Michigan vs RU would draw more attention in NY than RU vs Cinci or WVU because even the most fair weather of college football followers knows that OSU and Michigan are a big deal, even if they're not as good as the latter teams that year.
