Rutgers' Football Schedule Is Still Too Weak

When I read Friday's story about the two-game series Rutgers and Arkansas agreed upon I couldn't help noticing Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti's quote: "It is a constant priority to secure marquee scheduling opportunities for our football program and our fans."

I don't consider Rutgers' 2012 football schedule "marguee," it's as weak as any other of Rutgers' consistently weak schedules.

A game with Arkansas, and four non-conference games against the likes of Army, Tulane, Kent State and FCS Howard, is still one of the weakest non-conference schedules in the country and will be unappealing to the fans, if there are any left after next season's opening three games. (Tulane, Howard, Kent State.)

Pernetti has been the Rutgers AD for almost three years now and he's done very little to make the football schedule anything but dull and unchallenging.

After the 2009 season, when Rutgers played two FCS teams, Pernetti realized the schedule needed improvement so he added added Penn State in 2014 and 2015, UCLA in 2016 and 2017, Miami in 2018 and 2019, and now Arkansas in 2012 and 2013.

But he's still following Greg Schaino's lead of playing a non-conference schedule which includes one decent team, three of the worst FBC teams you can find and an FCS team.

And by the way, who knows how bad Penn State will be in a couple of years.  That also goes for UCLA and Miami, at least Arkansas is a legitimate top 15 team.

Hey Tim, if you want to do some marquee scheduling, try scheduling two top-flight non-conference games each season.

In 2012, Michigan, even with a tough Big Ten schedule, plays non-conference games against Alabama and Notre Dame.  Same thing for Michigan State, they play Boise State and Notre Dame.

In 2012, fellow Big East member USF plays non-conference games against FSU and Miami.  FSU plays a non-conference game against Florida and also had West Virginia on the 2012 schedule before it cancelled two weeks ago.

Next season, Miami plays non-conference games against Kansas State, Notre Dame and USF.  The Florida teams aren't afraid of competition, maybe that's why college football is so big in the Sunshine State.

In 2012, ACC champion Clemson plays Auburn and South Carolina, both of the SEC.

Southern Mississippi, who finished No. 19 last year, plays non-conference games against Boise State Nebraska and Louisville.  It's the way to build a program.

And next year Navy opens their season against Notre Dame and Penn State.

There's plenty of other examples of teams taking on the challenge of good non-conference teams so their fans will have something to look forward to almost every Saturday in 2012.

Most of the BCS conference teams only get to play three or four non-conference games and they still squeeze in more top games than Rutgers does with five non-conference games a year.

There's a saying "if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best."  Rutgers doesn't want to be the best.  It wants to guarantee a meaningless bowl game by playing a weak schedule.

So Tim, how about backing up your statement and prove Rutgers is interested in scheduling more big games.

Give the fans something to get excited about.

Next year's home schedule reads Kent State, Howard, Army, UConn, Syracuse and Louisville. You call that marquee!