Saturday Skull Session: Get Dumped Then, Rutgers

By D.J. Byrnes on October 24, 2015 at 4:59 am
Get dumped then, Rutgers
shoutout to @BuckeyeVisuals
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Party with this dude and end up in the ground. His BAC hasn't been under .32 since 1983.
A pro-Rutgers counterpoint.

Rutgers.

What else is there to say at this point? They're broke, mismanaged, and bottom-feeders in almost every sport.

The best thing that can be said about them is they're located close to New York City — an overpriced, overcrowded, rat-infested city on top of a garbage dump that doesn't give a shit about college football.

Most Buckeye fans will expect a blow out, but as any New Jersey resident can attest: Sometimes even the best laid plans go awry.

I think Rutgers will show some heart tonight before Ohio State puts an end to the children's game sometime around 10:45 p.m. Rutgers is still coached by Kyle Flood, after all.

The rest of today's slate is about as enticing as a weekend getaway to Piscataway. 

TIME (ET) GAME FAVORITE TELEVISION
12:00 No. 21 HOUSTON at CENTRAL FLORIDA UH (-22) ESPNEWS
12:00 No. 25 PITTSBURGH at SYRACUSE PITT (-7) ESPNU
12:00 IOWA STATE at No. 2 BAYLOR BU (-38) ESPN
12:00 No. 6 CLEMSON at MIAMI (FL) CLEM (-7) ABC
3:30 INDIANA at No. 7 MICHIGAN STATE MSU (-16) ABC
3:30 No. 23 DUKE at VIRGINIA TECH VT (-3) ESPNU
3:30 TENNESSEE at No. 9 ALABAMA BAMA (-15) CBS
3:30 TEXAS TECH at No. 17 OKLAHOMA OU (-14) ESPN2
3:30 KANSAS at No. 14 OKLAHOMA STATE OKST (-34½) FOXS1
7:00 No. 9 FLORIDA STATE at GEORGIA TECH FSU (-6½) ESPN2
7:00 No. 15 TEXAS A&M at No. 24 MISSISSIPPI A&M (-5) ESPN
7:00 WESTERN KENTUCKY at LOUISIANA STATE LSU (-16) ESPNU
7:30 No. 3 UTAH at SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA USC (-3) FOX
10:00 WASHINGTON at No. 10 STANFORD N/A ESPN

My (4-3) underdog money line pick of the week: Utah over USC.

THE SCARLET KNIGHT DOSSIER. Here's everything you need to know about today's opponent, Rutgers:

RUTGERS IS GOOD, ACTUALLY? The streets may laugh at Rutgers — but there's a reason why Jim Delany basically shrugged his shoulders at the university's series of administrational goofs. It's because he was too busy counting that cheddar.

From NewYorkTimes.com:

Those TV sets may help the Big Ten negotiate a blockbuster new television deal in the next year, but they have already helped the Big Ten Network, according to its president, Mark Silverman. The network, which is now in more than 60 million homes nationally, added eight million subscribers in the New York metropolitan area in the past year, a period that coincided with Rutgers’s first year as an associate member of the Big Ten. It also experienced a 20 percent year-over-year rise in advertising revenue — more than twice what would have been expected without conference growth.

Rutgers also has further raised the conference’s profile in the country’s media capital. Without Rutgers, it would be difficult to imagine the Big Ten staging its basketball championship tournament at Madison Square Garden, as it will do in 2018.

And while the merger has been a money loser so far for Rutgers, which at $36.3 million last year had the largest subsidy to its athletic department of virtually every public college in Division I, as calculated by USA Today, sports may soon be able to pay their own way: In just a few years, Rutgers will begin receiving a full member’s cut of the Big Ten’s exploding media revenue.

I realize live sports is televisions Holy Grail at the moment, but here's my reaction to anybody counting this television money before it hatches:

Cord-cutting is only going to get worse for these companies too as more people continue to go Pastor Why mode on their cable bill. (For example, I doubt people in the Northeast appreciate the surcharge for Rutgers games they don't watch anyway.)

What happens when that TV bubble finally pops? The Big Ten is stuck with sorry-ass Rutgers, that's what. The worst part is the B1G's elders (who will continue patting themselves on the back) will be long gone when it happens.

I get the "economics of now," but I still have long-term concerns about the addition of Rutgers. (FAVE THIS TWEET.)

#PERTINENTHEISENBERG. The Big Ten should've treated Rutgers like Heisenberg "treated" Jane.

The lesson, as Rutgers is about to learn tonight, is to never be a hater and stand in the way of greatness.

FINAL SCORE: 42-27.

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