Despite a Saturday loss at Michigan, bowl eligibility is still very much in the picture for Rutgers football. According to ESPN FPI, Rutgers has a strong chance of getting six if not seven wins this season.
ESPN ranks Rutgers as seventh in the Big Ten and projects a 6.3-5.7 record (wins-losses) for the Scarlet Knights. That would represent the first year of outright bowl eligibility for Rutgers since 2014.
ESPN has Rutgers favored in three of their next four games. Their final year of the game, home against Maryland, is also beginning to trend ever so slightly towards Rutgers.
Here is a look at what ESPN FPI has for Rutgers football’s remaining schedule:
- Sept. 30 vs. Wagner (Rutgers at 99 percent)
- Oct. 7 @ Wisconsin (Rutgers at 21.7 percent)
- Oct. 14 vs. Michigan State (Rutgers at 60.5 percent)
- Oct. 21 @ Indiana (Rutgers at 58.0 percent)
- Nov. 4 vs. Ohio State (Rutgers at 8.3 percent)
- Nov. 11 @ Iowa (Rutgers at 33.3 percent)
- Nov. 18 @ Penn State (Rutgers at 6.7 percent)
- Nov. 25 vs. Maryland (Rutgers at 38.5 percent)
That 2014 season was the first for Rutgers in the Big Ten. They played in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit where they defeated North Carolina.