If you have been out of town, living under a rock, or stopped paying attention to athletics at Rutgers University over the last decade, let me inform you of the biggest thing to happen to collegiate sports in New Jersey in quite some time. Rutgers is relevant. Ten years ago the Scarlet Knights were one of the sorriest football programs in the nation, and the thought of them playing the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State on a weekly basis was laughable. That thought may soon be a reality.

The Big 10 Conference, which features those historically successful programs, is looking to expand. Though their name may fool you, the conference currently houses eleven programs, and is looking to add a twelfth in order to have enough teams to play a conference title game in football each fall. This expansion has the potential to bring in millions of dollars in revenue, and put the Big 10 on even footing with other BCS conferences.

Rutgers is currently being looked at as a candidate in the expansion process. Other candidates include Missouri, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse. While Missouri and Pittsburgh offer more logistical sense in the Midwest based conference, Rutgers is the early favorite because of their recent success and their potential television market.

Under Coach Greg Schiano, Rutgers has been to four straight bowl games and established themselves as a team that could compete in the rugged Big 10. The Scarlet Knights also offer the allure of the New York television market. New York does not have a big time college football team to root for, yet is home to millions of die hard football fans. Would the draw of watching Rutgers battle perennial contenders catch the attention of these fans? It’s a gamble that the Big 10 conference may soon find out.