Texas A&M’s loss is Rutgers’ gain. The Scarlet Knights officially accepted a bid to the Gator Bowl today to replace the COVID-stricken Aggies.
Despite finishing the regular season below .500, Rutgers found itself in position to fill-in for Texas A&M because it had the highest Academic Progress Rate (APR) of all the 5-7 teams. That left the Scarlet Knights as the first team to be invited after the Aggies backed out, and they gladly accepted.
This isn’t exactly how Rutgers anticipated getting back to a bowl game under Greg Schiano, but the program isn’t going to turn down this opportunity. Incredibly, this is actually going to be the most prestigious bowl game RU has ever played in, and they qualified for it by luck.
Once Rutgers officially announced it was heading to Jacksonville this afternoon, reactions began pouring in from around the college football world.
True, and incredible: https://t.co/zOlSi4z6xZ
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) December 23, 2021
Wake Forest projected a 13-point favorite vs. Rutgers in Gator Bowl according to @_Collin1 power ratings https://t.co/uzatns8iKp
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 23, 2021
Personally, I love that APR/academics are used as a tiebreaker to get 5-7 teams into bowls. It’s an imperfect metric, but it’s a good incentive/reward for academics to matter.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) December 23, 2021
Let’s go!!!! https://t.co/YjZVKZApc5
— Augie Hoffmann (@CoachHoffmannRU) December 23, 2021
From a former bowling coach, let’s go! 🪓 https://t.co/0YUp2RHddM
— Sean Gleeson (@Coach__Gleeson) December 23, 2021
A hype video for a 5-7 replacement bowl team. Nothing like college football https://t.co/nqRZdBWbZ3
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) December 23, 2021
I would be much more interested in the Gator Bowl if the available A&M players joined forces with Rutgers to form a TEXAS-NEW JERSEY SUPERTEAM.
— Greg Tepper (@Tepper) December 23, 2021
While the details are not finalized, don’t expect Rutgers/ Big Ten to get the full bowl payout. https://t.co/UXaTDKhlM7
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 23, 2021
Who knew Rutgers would rate higher in Jacksonville than Urban Meyer?
— Jeff Schultz (@JeffSchultzATL) December 23, 2021
On paper, the Scarlet Knights don’t appear capable of hanging with the Demon Deacons, who won 10 games this season and finished as the ACC runner-up. However, this is college football, and crazy stuff happens all the time.
Just look at how Rutgers even got into this situation in the first place.
The Gator Bowl will kick off at 11 a.m. ET on December 31. ESPN will broadcast the game.
The post College Football World Reacts To Gator Bowl Replacement Announcement appeared first on The Spun.