The Wiz of Odds

Rutgers' Schiano on Big Ten Expansion

Rutgers is thought to be on the Big Ten's list of expansion candidates, and last weekend Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano, the featured speaker at a banquet in Pennsylvania, was asked about the school leaving the Big East.

"We're a member of the Big East, and that's really my concern," he said. "Certainly, I hear those rumors and all those things, but that's not my job or my concern. ... I'm going to leave that one up to our administration, and I'll go where they tell me."

Schiano was asked he if would support Rutgers moving to the Big Ten.

"I don't think I'm in the equation on that move. Like I said, I'm going to coach them where they put us. College football is really in an interesting time. There's a lot of talk and a lot of positioning. I think the next four-five years are going to tell a lot. Maybe sooner than that."

His comments start around the 1:45 mark.

Gotham's Team

ESPN's "Outside the Lines" takes a look at the arms race that has enveloped college sports through the story of Rutgers football.

Rutgers: A Program Stuck in Neutral

Big things were expected of Rutgers. All five starting members of the offensive line were back from a team that won its final seven games in 2008, including a 29-23 victory over North Carolina State in the Pizza Bowl.

Although the Scarlet Knights are 2-1, the victories were against lightweights Florida International and Division I-AA Howard. The game fans can't forget is the home opener against Big East rival Cincinnati. Rutgers was demolished, 47-15, a loss that sent coach Greg Schiano's stock to new lows.

Schiano, in his ninth season, has coached 100 games at Rutgers. Steve Politi of the Newark Star-Ledger wonders if Schiano can elevate the program to a higher level.

He writes: "Rutgers is still waiting, and for the first time, patience is running low. It isn't just the diehards who are frustrated, but the casual fans who just hopped on the bandwagon. This team was picked by many to win the league; instead, another 8-4 record and a minor bowl looks more likely.

Rutgers' Slice of Pizza Bowl a Costly One

Rutgers lost more than $184,000 on its December trip to Birmingham for the PapaJohn's.com Bowl. This despite a payout of $1.2 million.

Some of the costs:

• $282,610 to send 205 members of the football team and staff to Birmingham for six days.
• $165,799 for 187 members of the band and cheerleading squads, who went for three days.
• $28,950 for 21 members of the faculty, administration and athletics department.
• Food and lodging expenses totaled $263,334.

The game triggered $268,365 in performance bonuses and other compensation for the coach Greg Schiano and his staff. Rutgers was obligated as well to buy 10,000 tickets to the game, although it sold less than half of them, absorbing $214,000 in tickets.

Another Slice of the Pizza Bowl!

It has been said that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach. So when somebody got the bright idea in 2006 create the Pizza Bowl, it seemed like a natural.

Face it, there's no better combination than football, pizza and beer.

But they forgot two ingredients at the inaugural event featuring South Florida and East Carolina — pizza and beer. That's right, Papa John's and the vendor couldn't work out a deal before kickoff so no pizza at the Pizza Bowl. And because the Smithfield community around Legion Field in Birmingham is a bit on the tough side, no chain would consider delivering a pie into the stadium.

That didn't go over well, especially when the concession stands ran out of beer early in the game.

Another issue: The "announced" crowd of 32,023 was told to sit on one side of the stadium facing the cameras to deceive viewers into thinking the crowd was bigger than it actually was.

Year Two was better. The ESPN-sponsored game featuring Southern Mississippi and Cincinnati drew an "announced" 35,258, and if you were lucky enough, you scored one of those souvenir T-shirts with "Cincinnatti" mis-spelled.

But we're happy to report that Year Three of the event had few problems, according to Greg, our correspondent on the scene. Greg filed his usual collection of photos from Sunday night's pep rallies and Monday's game between North Carolina State and Rutgers, so if you dare to experience Pizza Bowl 2008, give a click to see what came down. They even correctly spelled the names of the teams in this year's game.

A Rough Start for Rutgers

Fresno State's Pat Hill issued the challenge in 2000. "Anyone, anytime, anywhere." Rutgers stepped up and told Hill to bring it on. On Monday, the teams met in Piscataway. That is where reader Greg completed his journey to open the season that also included stops in Atlanta and Charlottesville.

Now while it might be 'R' time at Rutgers, this was Fresno's day to shine. After the Bulldogs broke a scoreless tie in the third quarter, they cruised to a 24-7 victory.

The Scarlet Knights clearly have work ahead of them, but the tailgaters looked strong as ever, flipping burgers and steaks with the greatest of ease.

Table settings included a helmet and football signed by Greg Schiano.

Not cool. The mess left by one group of tailgaters.

Proof they study history at Rutgers, which held off a late Princeton charge to win, 6-4, in the first intercollegiate football game on Nov. 6, 1869. The downside? The Scarlet Knights were three-point favorites and failed to cover the spread.

Fresno? Fres-yes! Fresnecks made the journey to see the Bulldogs open what is hoped to be a memorable 2008 season.

The ongoing renovation of Rutgers Stadium has left an end zone scoreboard on an island.

A look at the stadium before kickoff. ... Thanks to Greg for sending images from his three-city trip. We value reader contributions. If you plan to attend a game and would like to tell others about the experience, we're open 24 hours a day. The email address is dawizofodds (at) aol.com.