Rutgers came into the 2024-2025 athletic year with a lot of promise. The football team had just won its first bowl game in years, made an improvement at quarterback, had a lot of returning starters, and had a much easier schedule than in years past. On the Basketball side of things, the Scarlet Knights landed two NBA caliber talents in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, and were expected to make the tournament with ease. Even the women’s basketball program seemed to be on the come-up with the commitment of Kiyomi McMiller.
That hype did not culminate in reality. The football team finished with a 7-5 record, the same as last year, and lost in their bowl game to Kansas State. The Men's Basketball season was a huge failure at 15-17. The Women’s team barely made the Big Ten Tournament and lost in the first round. The baseball team underperformed, finishing the season one game above .500 and losing in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. Even the Wrestling team underperformed despite having a good season, as no one was able to achieve All-American status at the 2025 NCAA championship tournament.
All of this underperformance led to the Knights being ranked at No. 80 in the Directors Cup rankings. The Directors Cup is an award sponsored by Learfield that is given every year to the most successful college athletic programs in the United States, recognizing overall athletic excellence and achievement across multiple sports. With their 80th place finish, Rutgers placed last out of all the schools in the Big Ten.
Texas won the competition, their fourth time in five years. USC came in second and placed the highest out of the Big Ten schools. Other top 20 Big Ten schools include UCLA at 5, Ohio State at 8, and Penn State at 16.
Rutgers athletics is still on the hunt for a new athletic director. These rankings make it clear that when a new one is hired, they will have their work cut out for them to right this ship.
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