Next up in the opponent preview series is the Michigan Wolverines. After an up-and-down season, which ended in the firing of Sherrone Moore and the first loss to Ohio State since 2019, Michigan decided to hire longtime Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. The Wolverines will look to put years of on- and off-the-field scandals behind them and return to their identity of being tough and physical in the trenches.
Rutgers has had an interesting history with the Wolverines, sealing their first-ever Big Ten victory over UM in 2014 with Kemoko Turay blocking a late field goal attempt to preserve a 26-24 win and prompting a field storm at SHI Stadium. Since then, it has all been downhill, including the infamous 78-0 loss that still leaves a pit in Rutgers' fans' stomachs.
More recently, Knights fans have struggled with much closer losses to the program, which offer a different type of heartache. There was a string of three surprisingly competitive games against a stronger Michigan team, including a 48-42 3OT escape by UM in 2020, a frustrating 20-13 Rutgers loss in Ann Arbor in 2021, and a shocking 17-14 halftime lead for the Knights at home turning into a 52-17 Michigan rout in 2022.
The last meeting between the sides was arguably the most anticlimactic, with Rutgers falling to Michigan 31-7 after an early Christian Dremel touchdown put RU up 7-0. The Knights have not seen the Wolverines since that 2023 meeting, which was the year Michigan won the national championship.
With the history being unpacked, let us turn our attention to this year's Michigan Wolverines and what to expect when Whittingham's team arrives in New Jersey on what should be an interesting Halloween gameday.

#wolverines #rutgers #since #loss

Rutgers fans have gotten accustomed to waiting until game week to learn who the starting quarterback will be.
Will that be the case once again? Maybe not.
Head coach Greg Schiano joined the Big Ten Network crew on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the upcoming season. He was asked about when the right time is to name a starting quarterback.
"You wish after that first scrimmage," Schiano said. "I think our first scrimmage is practice 12. But if it's not time yet, it's not time yet but it better be the week after. I don't want to go much more than that because right soon after that, you're getting into your first game prep for UMass."
This has become an annual tradition for Schiano and Rutgers. The exception came two years ago following the arrival of Athan Kaliakmanis. He was quickly named the starter, which gave Gavin Wimsatt the right amount of time to be able to transfer.

#game #week

Rutgers was present during the first day of Big Ten Media Days from Chicago.
On Tuesday morning, head coach Greg Schiano took the podium before joining the Big Ten Network, along with player representatives KJ Duff, Antwan Raymond, and Kwabena Asamoah.
Here is what Greg Schiano had to say during his appearances about the upcoming season.
On program changes people do not see:
"I believe strongly in protecting the football but also taking the football away. We did a great job protecting the football and I expect to do even better. It's a programmatic thing that goes throughout our entire coaching staff, every player, our trainers, our equipment manager. Anyone is allowed to coach ball security within our program. What we need to do is get better at taking the ball away. We need to get better at defense period. That is why we hired Travis Johansen as our new coordinator. I am really thrilled and excited to see the chemistry between the players and the coaches."

#better #schiano #player #protecting

The annual preseason Big Ten football poll has been revealed, and the Wisconsin Badgers are outside of the top 10.
In an 18-team conference, the Badgers found themselves earning 207 points, which is good for 12th place, according to cleveland.com.
Team ranked below Wisconsin include: UCLA, Northwestern, Maryland, Michigan State, Rutgers, and Purdue.
The Boilermakers sit at last place with just 45 points, so it's optimistic knowing Wisconsin gets to play them this season.
Even after winning the National Championship, Indiana only sits at No. 3. Their 509 points weren't good enough to take down No. 2 Oregon (527 points) or the expected No. 1 Ohio State (540 points).

#badgers

The 2026 college football season is nearly here! On Tuesday, Big Ten Media Days begin in Chicago, marking the unofficial start of the year. This year's event will be three days long, with six schools going on each day. USC is scheduled for the first day.
Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti will kick off the day with his introductory press conference at 8:45 AM Pacific Time Tuesday. He will be followed by the head coaches from USC, Illinois, Rutgers, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
Lincoln Riley will be the last head coach of the day to speak. His press conference will be at approximately 10:45 AM Pacific Time. Both Riley and Petitti's press conferences will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.
In addition, the Big Ten Network studio set will be having players and coaches on throughout the day. Riley will join the set between 11:15 AM and noon Pacific Time. USC quarterback Jayden Maiava and defensive linemen Alex VanSumeren and Jide Abasiri will be interviewed between 1:00 and 1:30 PM.
USC is heading into its third season in the Big Ten. After going 7-2 in conference play and finishing in fourth place in the league standings last year, the Trojans are hoping to put together an even better campaign in 2026.

#conference

Recently, Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano went on the Y-Option podcast, a podcast all about college football hosted by Yogi Roth, to talk about the state of the program, Schiano's optimism going forward, and how much the program has benefited from a change in leadership in the athletic department.
The podcast started with a conversational feel, with Roth asking Schiano about his personal life, his path to coaching, and how he sees his role as not just coaching the team but also helping prepare young men for life. One interesting thing they talked about during this segment was how Schiano addressed new defensive coordinator Travis Johansen's concerns about being there for his family, so he would feel comfortable making the move to Rutgers.
Schiano was also allowed to speak about the positive changes that have occurred because of the hiring of Keli Zinn and the new alignment at the university.
"We have never had vertical alignment from the president down through the athletic director to the football coach. For the first time we do, and that certainly means a lot when it comes to fundraising and NIL and all of that. But it is so much more than that. It's an attitude of excellence. It's winning is important, and the commitment to win," said Schiano. "I think Keli Zinn is going to do a great job here, and I think that President Tate understands what it takes to compete in this league."
"It might take a minute because other schools have been competing at full capacity, their might be a little lag, but we are now in the game,' said Schiano.

#Football #podcast #president #program

A former Husker announced his retirement from the NFL on Wednesday night. Tight end Travis Vokolek made the announcement on Instagram that he is medically retiring.
Vokolek suffered a neck injury last season while playing for the Arizona Cardinals. He was the third-string tight end for the Cardinals and played a part on special teams. Vokolek spent two seasons with Arizona after initially going undrafted as a free agent to the Baltimore Ravens. He played in five games for the Cardinals and totaled two solo tackles.
"After numerous visits with doctors and neurologists over the past couple of months, I have been advised to medically retire from the NFL due to a serious neck injury that I suffered this past season," he wrote in his post. "I am extremely grateful and blessed to have been able to live out my childhood dream of playing football at the highest level for the past three years. Football has taught me many life lessons and given me unforgettable memories."
Vokolek played three seasons at Nebraska after transferring from Rutgers in 2019. In his final season for the Huskers, he played in 10 games and set career highs with 20 catches, 240 receiving yards and two touchdowns. In his Nebraska career, Vokolek tallied 458 receiving yards and two touchdowns off 40 catches.
Contact/Follow us CornhuskersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page onFacebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes and opinions.

#played #arizona #tight #Football

Iowa women's basketball continued its quest to attract some of the nation's top talent to Iowa City. On Wednesday, the Hawkeyes offered four-star small forward and the top player out of Arizona in the 2028 class, Taylor Morris.
Morris is rated as the nation's No. 20 player per 2028 SportsCenter NEXT - Super 60 rankings. According to Prep Girls Hoops' 2028 Arizona rankings, Morris is the No. 1 prospect in the state.
A 6-foot-4 prospect, Morris has averaged 14.7 points per game during her 55 games played at the varsity level in two seasons at Mesa High School, per MaxPreps. Morris also plays for Mountain West Premier, which is the same Nike EYBL program as fellow Hawkeyes prospect Sienna Williams.
Along with Iowa, Morris already has a long list of offers from premier college basketball programs such as Texas Tech, BYU, Missouri, Alabama, Colorado, Florida, and Big Ten foes Oregon, Rutgers, Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and UCLA.
Here's a look at Morris' highlights:

#morris #prospect #hawkeyes #premier

Rutgers Athletics recently unveiled its annual awards to honor the athletes who have distinguished themselves in a variety of areas. The awards included the Big Ten Medal of Honor, Bauer Athlete of the Year, the Freshman of the Year Award, the Sophomore of the Year Award, the Junior of the Year Award, the Senior of the Year Award, the Coursen Award, the Headley-Singer Award, the Werblin Award, and the Athletic Director's Excellence Award. Most of the awards were given out to one male and one female athlete.
The Big Ten Medal of Honor is awarded to one male and one female student-athlete from the graduating class of each member institution who has demonstrated excellence on and off the field.
In his senior season, Kaliakmanis threw for 3,124 passing yards and 20 touchdowns while running for four more touchdowns. His passing yards total last year is the fourth most in a season in program history, and his 260.3 average passing yards per game last year was second in the Big Ten. He was selected in the seventh round of the NFL draft by the Washington Commanders.
Crawford made breaking school records look normal during her time in Piscataway. She is now the school record holder in both the 400m indoor and outdoor. She also ran a leg on the school record sprint medley relay team, setting the top mark in 2024 at 3:47.28. Crawford recorded seven podium finishes over her career and was a two-time NCAA East First Round qualifier who earned a spot at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships. She was also an All-American honorable mention.
The Bauer athlete of the year award is given to the one male and one female student-athlete from any class who has consistently performed and excelled in athletic competition at a high level for the most recent academic year.

#female

The only two things in life that make it worth livin’
Are guitars that tune good and firm feelin’ Dots
Not content to have Nikola Dzepina as the only player whose last name starts with a Z adjacent to a consonant, Danny Sprinkle added Rutgers transfer Harun Zrno to the roster on Wednesday. Zrno is a 6’7” wing who carved out a regular rotation spot for Rutgers last season, though his shooting percentages were sub-par and he didn’t pile up impressive numbers of rebounds or **** ists. Sprinkle and his staff will need to further develop their new addition to make him more than just a body to fill out the roster.
The Dawgs also announced the addition of one of the coaches who will work with Zrno and company next season. The Huskies hired long-time NBA **** istant Charles Klask to his staff. Klask most recently worked as an **** istant for the Denver Nuggets, and has previously **** isted on the staffs of Rick Carlisle, Doc Rivers, Stan Van Gundy, and others.
Dawgman continued their series of position previews as we count down the days to the start of Fall camp with a profile of the WR room. The biggest question to answer in this group is who will step up to fill the sizeable hole left by Denzel Boston’s departure. There might not be a one-for-one possession receiver to slide in for Boston, but Rashid Williams and several newcomers offer lots of upside.

#rutgers #boston #make #roster

Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman had plenty of praise for one of his new hires to the staff.
In a recent interview with On3 (subscription required), Freeman was very vocal about the instant impact that Aaron Henry has made since he was brought onto campus at South Bend as the new defensive backs coach. He called Henry's presence "infectious" and pointed towards the easy fit he has had alongside defensive coordinator Chris Ash.
Aaron Henry was the defensive coordinator at the University of Illinois but even then he fit the type of profile that Freeman looked for in a coach: High-energy, a great recruiter and someone who was proven on the defensive side of the football.
At Illinois, he built his reputation as one of the best developers of defensive backs in the country. Players like Devon Witherspoon, Kerby Joseph, Quan Martin, and Sydney Brown can all be credited at least in part with being developed by Henry. It seems like it is just a matter of time before Witherspoon will sign a new contract with the Seattle Seahawks and become the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history. He started as a defensive backs coach at Illinois before eventually being promoted to defensive coordinator when Ryan Walters was hired as the head coach at Purdue.
Henry did not decide to come to Notre Dame blindly. He has a long-established relationship with Chris Ash. He previously played for Ash at Wisconsin and then coached under him at Rutgers. The familiarity with Ash prompted Henry to say the Notre Dame opportunity was a "natural fit."

#freeman

A popular college football social media account believes the Spartans will reach a bowl game for the first time in five seasons.
CFB Home -- a social media account with nearly 125,000 followers on X -- released their game-by-game predictions for the Spartans this upcoming season, and they are higher on Michigan State than most. CFB Home has Michigan State finishing the 2026 season with a 6-6 overall record and 4-5 mark in Big Ten play.
CFB Home has Michigan State opening the year with a pair of victories over Toledo and Eastern Michigan. From there, they see the Spartans dropping a pair of games against Notre Dame and Nebraska before winning ripping off three straight wins against Wisconsin, Illinois and Northwestern.
Michigan State is sitting at 5-2 overall and 3-1 in Big Ten play following this impressive three-game winning streak. But from there, things get rough, with CFB Home predicting four straight losses against UCLA, Michigan, Washington and Oregon. Luckily, Michigan State is able to beat to Rutgers on the final game of the season to reach bowl eligibility.
Michigan State is entering the season with low expectations. The Spartans' wins over/under total is set at 4.5, meaning CFB Home has the Spartans clearing the over by two games this fall.

#home #Social

RJ Moore, a four-star shooting guard in the 2027 class, has scheduled an official visit to Vanderbilt for September 10-13, he told Rivals.
The 6-foot-5 rising senior out of Ambassador Christian (NC) received an offer from the Commodores in June. He's also scheduled to take an official visit to Rutgers.
Moore is ranked as the No. 40 overall recruit in the 2027 class and the No. 8 ranked shooting guard, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking, an average of all three major recruiting media companies (Rivals, ESPN, 247Sports).
In a previous interview with Rivals, RJ Moore discussed his thoughts on Vandy.
"They had a good year last year, they did really well. I like how Coach (Mark) Byington coaches them hard. I went to a game at Wake Forest when they played Vanderbilt, so I saw them play live last year. And I like the way they play. He lets his guards shoot, and they play fast. They like how I'm able to shoot the ball and my feel for the game."

#like

The Scarlet Knights will have a bit of a wrinkle in the schedule this year.
Instead of beginning the year with three straight non-conference games, Rutgers will mix in USC in Week 3 in 2026.
Name: USC Trojans
Stadium: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Cap. 93,607)
Head Coach: Lincoln Riley (5th season)

Michigan State basketball is pursuing one of the top point guards in the 2027 class.
Antonio Pemberton of Hanover, Mass. announced on Sunday that he's received an offer from Michigan State. Pemberton made the offer from the Spartans known by posting on his social media X account on Sunday.
Pemberton is a high-end four-star prospect in the 2027 class, with a recruiting rating of 98.47 in 247Sports' composite system. He ranks as the No. 9 point guard and No. 35 overall prospect in the class. He is also listed as the top overall player from Massachusetts in the class.
Michigan State joins a list of nearly 20 schools to extend an offer to Pemberton, according to 247Sports. He also holds notable offers from Boston College, Utah, Auburn, Marquette, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Maryland, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Tennessee, Rutgers, Georgetown and Xavier.
At this time, Utah and Marquette are signaled as the top contenders for Pemberton, with both schools slated to host him for an official visit later this year. It'll be interesting, though, if Michigan State joining the mix will change things for Pemberton's recruitment.

Next up in the opponent preview series is Rutgers' second game of the season against Boston College. This will be a very intriguing game for the Scarlet Knights for several reasons. The game will be the Eagles' annual Red Bandanna game in honor of BC alum and hero Welles Crowther and will also take place on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Rutgers also lost 37 alumni in the tragic attacks at the World Trade Center and has honored them in a previous game that took place on the anniversary of 9/11 when they defeated Syracuse 17-7 in 2021.
In addition to that, this will be Rutgers' first road game of the season, and it will be the most intriguing nonconference matchup. The Knights have been very solid against ACC competition over the past few seasons, including a 22-21 come-from-behind victory the last time they visited Chestnut Hill, opening the 2022 season.
Rutgers will suit up a former Boston College quarterback this year, as Dylan Lonergan, a former Alabama and BC signal-caller, transferred to the Knights this offseason. Whether he will take the field against his former team is to be decided, as AJ Surace and Lonergan are in a quarterback battle that is expected to last through training camp.
With that being said, let us shift our attention to the Boston College Eagles!
There is nowhere to go but up for Boston College, as the Eagles very well have been the worst Power Four team in all of college football last year with a 2-10 record. After routing FCS Fordham 66-10, things turned ugly quickly for BC, as they fell to Big Ten bottom-dweller Michigan State in what was a thrilling 42-40 victory for the Spartans in East Lansing.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — There's another Bonds in the San Francisco Giants organization.
The Giants drafted Rutgers outfielder Peyton Bonds in the third round of the amateur draft on Saturday, putting him with the same franchise where uncle Barry Bonds and grandfather Bobby Bonds both starred for years.
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Peyton Bonds hit .352 with six home runs and 13 stolen bases last season for Rutgers.
Barry Bonds set a major league record with 762 career home runs and won seven Most Valuable Player awards. Bobby and Barry Bonds are considered one of the greatest father-son combinations in baseball history.
There were plenty of family connections in the draft held this weekend in Philadelphia, the site of Tuesday night's All-Star Game.

Peyton Bonds has been drafted in the third round of the MLB draft by the team that two of his ancestors played for, the San Francisco Giants. With his drafting, Bonds will have the opportunity to continue his family’s legacy not just in MLB but in the Bay Area, as both his father, Bobby Bonds II, and his uncle, Barry Bonds, spent much of their careers playing for the Giants. Barry currently holds the MLB record for home runs in a career.
Bonds was taken with the 90th overall pick.
Last season for Rutgers, Bonds recorded 50 hits in 142 at-bats along with 6 home runs. He also recorded 31 total runs and 29 RBI’s last season.
Many scouting reports say that he has a good power-hitting build at 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, and that he has a good bat speed and good exit velocity, likely just needing a few tweaks to be a good power hitter at the major league level.
However, many reports also talk about his good skill in the field. Last season, Bonds recorded 80 put-outs and a .976 fielding percentage.

ESPN recently released its College Football Power Index Rankings, with Rutgers being the second-lowest-rated team in the Big Ten with an FI rating of -.2. That rating placed the Scarlet Knights as the No.67 team in the country, with Purdue being the only Big Ten team rated lower at No.71
According to a 2016 ESPN article, their data for determining the preseason FPI is based on how the team performed in previous seasons.
"Each team's FPI rating is composed of a predicted offensive, defensive and special teams component. These ratings represent the number of points each unit is expected to contribute to the team's net scoring margin on a neutral field against an average FBS opponent.
In the preseason, these components are made up entirely of data from previous seasons, such as returning starters, past performance, recruiting rankings and coaching tenure (more on the preseason component below). That information allows FPI to make predictions (and make determinations on the strength of a team's opponents) beginning in Week 1, and then it declines in weight as the season progresses. It is important to note that prior seasons' information never completely disappears, because it has been proved to help with prediction accuracy even at the end of a season. Vegas similarly includes priors when setting its lines."
The FPI has been updated since then to factor in things like the transfer portal.

Summer is here, and it is everyone's favorite time of the year, scouting time. Every year, we do Summer Scouting to preview college football for Bucs fans, but also give them an idea of names to follow and watch in the fall as needs pop up for Tampa Bay.
Are we going to write about quarterbacks? Offensive tackles? Edge rushers? You know it, but why? Because other NFL teams will draft them, just as they will draft every other position. It all matters whether these players end up on the Bucs, the Bears, or the Steelers. We write these so Bucs fans can be the most informed fans.
So if you are still with us, enjoy our latest Summer Scouting report as we prepare you for the Fall.
Rutgers
Purdue

Last Thursday, 36 athletes from across the Big Ten were awarded the annual Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award, which is given to a select few players because they have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior, being in good academic standing, and demonstrating good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
Two Rutgers players were honored by the conference for the award this year, as Gus Zilinskas, the center for Rutgers football, and Katherine Lang of the women’s swimming and diving team earned the nomination.
Zilinskas started 41 games at center for Rutgers and made 38 consecutive starts over the past three seasons. He was a two-time honorable mention All-Big Ten selection and was named All-ECAC and to the Rimington Award watch list. On top of his achievements on the field, Zilinskas also proved himself in the classroom. As a graduate student, Zilinskas studied performance psychology and was a member of the National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society and a four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
Lang competed in backstroke, IM and relays for Rutgers while serving as a two-time team captain. Lang served as the President of the Rutgers Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as a senior after previously serving as the vice president of the committee. Majoring in Public Health with a minor in business administration, she was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and a Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship Recipient.
Both of them set a standard of high expectations for their programs in and out of the locker room. With both graduating this year, the duty of filling their leadership role must be filled by the next up-and-coming leaders in their programs.

Summer is here, and it is everyone’s favorite time of the year, scouting time. Every year, we do Summer Scouting to preview college football for Vikings fans, but also give them an idea of names to follow and watch in the fall as needs pop up for Minnesota.
Are we going to write about quarterbacks? Offensive tackles? Edge rushers? You know it, but why? Because other NFL teams will draft them, just as they will draft every other position. It all matters whether these players end up on the Vikings, the Bears, or the Steelers. We write these so Vikings fans can be the most informed fans.
So if you are still with us, enjoy our latest Summer Scouting report as we prepare you for the Fall.
Penn State
Rutgers

ICYMI-unfortunately, Penn State has had a rough couple days in recruiting. First, Khalil Taylor tossed the Nittany Lion hat aside to choose Nebraska, and then yesterday, running back Aiden Gibson reclassified to 2026 and swapped to Rutgers.
Last week we looked at how Marshall was affected by the portal. This week, it's the Winged Helmets.
The prospective starting quarterback is focusing on keeping his injury history where it belongs-in the past.
ICYMI, speaking of the offense…here's some optimism for ya.
As much it pains me, it seems like a former Penn State offensive lineman could help out the second-worst team in the NFC East (Don't worry, I still think the Giants are the worst until they prove me wrong).

The Rutgers football 2026 season is set to kick off in just under 2 months, meaning that it is time to start looking at the opponents the Scarlet Knights have on the schedule.
First up on the slate is the UMass Minutemen, who Rutgers will be taking on Thursday, June 3 at 6 p.m. UMass is led by second-year head coach and former Rutgers defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak. The Minutemen did not win a single game during Harasymiak's first year with the team, even falling to 3-9 FCS Bryant by one point.
The Minutemen's starting quarterback for most of last season was AJ Hairston, although he did miss a few games at the end of the season with an injury. Last year as a freshman, he totaled 957 passing yards, four touchdowns, and four sacks while completing 49.5% of his passes. However, after just one season with the program, Hairston opted to transfer to Merrimack. His backup, Grant Jordan, decided to transfer elsewhere as well. That leaves junior quarterback Brandon Rose as the only UMass quarterback to get playing time with the team last year.
Rose started two games last year and ended the season with 424 passing yards and one touchdown against three interceptions. He also posted a 59.1 percent completion percentage. UMass also added Virginia Tech transfer Pop Watson III in the portal. He has a total of 558 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions over three seasons with the Hokies.
UMass' leading rusher, Brandon Hood, transferred out after last season, leaving Rocko Griffin as their best returning running back. Griffin recorded 53 carries for 246 yards and 2 touchdowns last season while averaging 4.6 yards per carry. UMass also brought in former Marshal running back Justin Williams-Thomas, who carried the ball 35 times for 197 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 5.6 yards per carry for the Thundering Herd last season.

Former Rutgers football captain and defensive end Jamil Merrell passed away yesterday at the age of 36, according to a post his brother Jamal made on social media. No cause of death was made public.
Merrell played at Rutgers from 2009-2013, and served as a captain during that time. He played alongside his brother and saw playing time under both head coach Greg Schiano during his first stint and former Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood.
Merrell continued his football career after Rutgers, landing on the Chicago Bears practice squad before spending a few seasons in the AFL.
Jamal released the following statement on Facebook to honor his brother.
"As I write this, I'm sitting beside my twin brother, surrounded by our family, knowing that we're witnessing one of the hardest moments we'll ever have to face. With tears in our eyes and love in our hearts, I want everyone to know that my twin brother, Jamil, is peacefully transitioning to be with God.

Rutgers has a pretty good wrestling program. Its rowing program is nationally ranked, and has been for several years. There are other sports “on the banks” that have also been reasonably successful in recent years: men’s golf, field hockey, women’s lacrosse, women’s soccer, gymnastics.
And they’ve done well, despite the fact that they haven’t necessarily gotten the support – financially or otherwise – that they need. But Keli Zinn has made it clear that those poor support days are over.
“Our absence in that ****** e [NIL]. Over the past three or four years, I do believe it has had a direct impact on where you see some of our Olympic sports performing right now. We needed to fix that, and our Olympic coaches heard back in the fall, me tell them, hey, this isn’t just about football and basketball, it’s going to be about you too.”
In honor of this year’s World Cup games, Andrew posted a piece on Rutgers Soccer – men and women – showing a proud and highly successful history. The operative word being history, as in not recently.
And, as often happens, reality can smack you up side the head: that would be the Directors’ Cup standings for 2025-26. And it showed that of late, Rutgers just hasn’t quite cut it in too many areas.

College Football **** yst Phil Steele released his annual, information-packed College Football Preview magazine for the 2026 season, which spans over 350 pages long and has several references to the Wisconsin Badgers throughout.
After an ugly campaign for the Badgers, Steele is bullish on the Badgers in 2026, expecting improvement in a lot of areas, including the team’s place in the Big Ten.
The **** yst predicted Wisconsin to finish 12th in the Big Ten, an improvement from last year, but still near the bottom third of the conference. The teams that Steele has below the Badgers are Northwestern, UCLA, Rutgers, Michigan State, Maryland, and Purdue.
Additionally, he’s quite high on the Badgers linebacker group headlined by Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano, even sharing that they’ll be the No. 1 linebacker group in the Big Ten. But Wisconsin doesn’t have another position group ranked in the top half of the Big Ten on Steele’s positional group rankings outside of defensive line (No. 8 in the Big Ten) and quarterback (No. 9 in the Big Ten).
Notably, he has their running back room as the No. 13 group in the Big Ten, while the offensive line room is the No. 15 group in the conference. While the defensive backs are at No. 14 of 18, Steele does believe the secondary has improved from the 2025 unit that Wisconsin trotted out.

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights earned a major commitment flip. Four-star running back Aiden Gibson flipped his commitment from Penn State to Rutgers, according to Hayes Fawcett. He also reclassified to the class of 2026, so he could make his debut this upcoming season.
Gibson stands at 6-foot-1 and weighs 212 pounds. He plays high school football for Woodruff High School in Woodruff, South Carolina, and he was ranked as the No. 17 running back and No. 269 prospect in the nation.
The Scarlet Knights have already seen most of their class of 2026 enroll in the school, but it's unknown when Gibson will enroll. When Gibson does, he will be joining the No. 54 class of 2026 in the nation, according to 247Sports. They have the No. 39 composite class, but they also have the No. 81 transfer class.
Penn State, meanwhile, loses another recruit from its class of 2026. They earned the No. 34 class in the nation, but their recruiting class was ranked No. 65 in the nation. The Nittany Lions fired head coach James Franklin midseason, which led to a ton of high-end recruits decommitting in both 2026 and 2027 (see Kemon Spell).
Bringing in Matt Campbell as head coach helped in the transfer portal; Penn State had the No. 4 transfer class this season because many of Campbell's Iowa State team transferred with him. However, his first recruiting class won't come to fruition until 2027. So far, he has the No. 20 recruiting class in the nation. Unfortunately, his weak 2026 class just got even weaker with this news.

We are only seven months into the Matt Campbell era at Penn State and it has been a rollercoaster. It started with no expectations after a mass exodus of talent that stemmed from James Franklin’s dismissal as head coach. However, the pressure ratcheted right back up when Campbell and his staff went on an impressive recruiting run to restock the Nittany Lions’ future with a strong contingent of players.
Once considered to be one of the top recruiting classes in the country, the team’s 2027 ranking has taken a significant hit in recent months after a flurry of commitment flips. Just last week Penn State had the 12th-best 2027 recruiting class according to 247Sports, but it’s now fallen all the way down to No. 24 after four-star running back Aiden Gibson’s stunning flip to Rutgers.
There was really no indication that his commitment was on shaky ground, but he now follows notable recruits like Khalil Taylor and Semajay Robinson as the latest high-profile prospect to change his mind about Penn State. Nearly everyone, player or coach, who passes through the building speaks about how nice the campus is and how storied of a program the team has.
However, the Nittany Lions have been unable to solidify their standing with these players for some reason. With pretty much all of their top targets off the board in one way or another, there aren’t many more moves to be made for next year’s class. We just need to hope that the players still committed don’t follow suit and jump ship too.
Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X and Facebook.

Just a day after four-star PA wide receiver Khalil Taylor spurned Penn State for Nebraska, the Nittany Lions got more fantastic news as four-star South Carolina running back Aiden Gibson announced his decommitment from Penn State and flipped to Rutgers with the intention to enroll for the 2026 season.
BREAKING: Four-Star RB Aiden Gibson has Flipped his Commitment from Penn State to Rutgers, he tells me for Rivals

He’ll reclassify to the 2026 class and is set to enroll in August

Gibson was ranked as the No. 8 RB in the 2027 Rivals Industry Rankingshttps://t.co/MfxYHEhs9M pic.twitter.com/xXtGIqHKDI
— Hayes Fawcett (Hayesfawcett3) July 7, 2026
Not really much to say here other than this sucks and there have just been too many losses for Penn State this cycle. No one is going to bat 1.000, but after a strong March and April that had the Nittany Lions positioned to sign a Top 15 class, they have managed to lose Jamir Dean to Georgia, Zach Gleason to West Virginia, DeShawn Hall to Auburn, Khalil Taylor to Nebraska, and now Aiden Gibson to Rutgers. The class is now ranked No. 22, behind the likes of Cal, Kentucky, and…Virginia Tech.
Gross. The 2028 class needs to be better.