Rutgers is not a school we talk about a lot in the college sports landscape. The football team actually did decent by their standards with a 3-6 record in 2020. Rutgers also ended a 21 conference game losing streak when they beat Michigan State. If Rutgers football is serious about competing, they need to get out of the BIG Ten. This could also help the basketball team as well. Rutgers should strongly consider making the jump to the ACC.
How This Would Help
I’ve mentioned in prior articles that BIG 10 football is very top heavy. Ohio State is always in it, and Wisconsin is usually a tough competitor. Northwestern and Iowa have also had really good seasons as of late. If Iowa State comes in, it will only get harder. The ACC is a weaker football conference, and the case can be made that other teams in the conference should consider moving as well. If shifts take place in the ACC, that could open the door for Rutgers. In terms of basketball, the team has been in the mix since Steve Pikiell took over as head coach. If they played in the ACC in 2019 and 2020, Rutgers would have done very well. The ACC has looked a bit weaker in basketball, so this could open the door.
What A New ACC May Look Like
In this model, Penn State and Rutgers has been added, and Louisville has been taken out. You can find my article about Penn State and the ACC here. You can also find my pitch for Louisville to move to the SEC article here. Below is the breakdown of what could be the ACC 2.0:
ACC Coastal
Virginia, Virginia Tech, Pitt, Penn State, UNC, Miami, Duke, Georgia Tech
ACC Atlantic
Clemson, Rutgers, Wake Forrest, Boston College, Florida State, Syracuse, NC State
Just a reminder that Notre Dame is going back to being independent for football. Penn State could be placed to the Atlantic, but for now we’ll keep it in the Coastal since this is just a hypothetical situation. This probably won’t happen. However, it’s fun to think of the possibilities. Geographically and from a sports standpoint, the theory itself isn’t crazy. We’ll see what happens since a lot of schools want to make a change.
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