With Rutgers Football set to kick off the 2024 college football season on this Thursday night, August 29th versus Howard, there is no better time than now to offer our season predictions for how our staff sees the Scarlet Knights performing this season.
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RICHIE O'LEARY'S PREDICTION....
PREDICTION: 8-4 (6-3)
Coming off a big bowl win against a now preseason top 25 ranked Miami team, Rutgers is expected to have a lot of success on the field this season as they return a good chunk of their starters and added some key new additions this offseason as well.
On top of it all, this year's schedule is by far the easiest that the team has had since they joined the Big Ten in 2014 as they somehow avoid playing any of the top four programs in the conference (OSU, Oregon, UM and PSU). Add in the fact that they got relatively lucky with the travel situations with the new west coast opponents coming east twice this year and it all lines up for a pretty good season.
Right now I see Rutgers going 2-1 in out of conference play with a loss to Virginia Tech, as they are a much different team from last season and Blacksburg is one of the hardest places to play at (No. 17 in the country per CFB 25 video game). However hope should not be lost after that, as I have the Scarlet Knights going 6-3 in conference with all three of those losses coming on the road versus Nebraska, USC and Michigan State. That also means wins against Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Washington, Wisconsin and UCLA.
Now I know that record is not good enough for the College Football Playoff, but it should be more than enough for either the Music City Bowl in Nashville or the Duke's Mayo Bowl in Charlotte, both of which would be a step up from the Pinstripe Bowl or the Detroit Bowl. Overall I would consider a season like this a success and should help Rutgers to continue to that next level of the rebuild.
CRAIG EPSTEIN'S PREDICTION....
PREDICTION: 8-4 (5-4)
Looking at Rutgers’ schedule, I believe its floor is 6-6 and its ceiling 10-2. So, I’m going to split the difference and say it goes 8-4. I believe this is going to be a magical season for the Scarlet Knights, but it’s college football at the end of the day and I have a hard time seeing everything going right for them.
MIKE BROADBENT'S PREDICTION....
PREDICTION: 9-3 (6-3)
Rutgers is facing a schedule that is more favorable than any they’ve seen so far in their decade in the Big Ten. There are no automatic losses on this schedule as there were for so many years as a Big Ten East member. They also have their best team in the Schiano 2.0 era. Rutgers will capitalize on both of these factors to the tune of their best record as a Big Ten member both in final record and conference record. ESPN’s FPI metric has 9 games on the schedule being roughly a coin flip. I could see Rutgers finishing anywhere from 7-5 or 11-1, but I’ll split the difference and say they finish with a 9-3 (6-3) record. SHI Stadium gets revived as a legitimate home field advantage and Rutgers goes a perfect 7-0 at home in 2024.
ALEC CROUTHAMEL'S PREDICTION....
PREDICTION: 8-4 (5-4)
Rutgers finishes over .500 in Big Ten play for the first time behind another elite run game and a top-30 defense. They pick up a marquee win on the road at Virginia Tech and take care of business in conference play. Athan Kaliakmanis has the best Rutgers quarterback season since Chris Laviano and Dymere Miller leads the way with over 700 receiving yards. The schedule is there for Rutgers to have a big year, and while this isn’t the 10-win breakout like some are predicting, it’s another step forward and the Scarlet Knights prove once again they are on a consistent uptick.
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