Rutgers is one of the oldest college football programs in the country. They were playing football on the New Jersey campus before storied programs such as Michigan, Notre Dame, and almost everyone else. They are the one team from the game's early days that is still playing at a high level and is not a member of the Ivy League. Though they have been dormant for a long time, the Scarlet Knights have risen as one of the best teams in the Big East over the last several years. They also have the large New York City media market and recruiting ground nearby to expand their profile. As the program gets better, the chances at playing in a BCS bowl go up. Those chances should be sky high in 2009 in a Big East that sees traditional powers like Louisville and West Virginia take a step back.
One of those teams, Louisville, has been oh so close, but they always have one stumbling block that prevents them from moving forward. Louisville could have played for a national title in 2006, but they lost a late season game at Rutgers and had to settle for an Orange Bowl victory over Wake Forest. Since then, they have struggled under new coach Steve Kragthorpe, especially at home. They used to be unstoppable in Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium, but now teams like Syracuse are winning there. Losing to Syracuse in its present state is more than an embarrassing loss. It is simply something shouldn't happened when you are as good as Louisville. The Cardinals will have http://www.wholesalecheappanthersjerseys.com. to avoid those embarrassing losses as well as reassert their dominance of in-state rival Kentucky if they are going to threaten for conference championships again. If they cannot dot hat they will have to go back to waiting for coach Rick Pitino's basketball teams to start in November.