Sunday, September 24, 2006

Hell Has Frozen Over


I just read the following:

Rutgers -- yes Rutgers -- is ranked

By RALPH D. RUSSO, AP Sports Writer
September 24, 2006
No joke. Rutgers is ranked.
The Scarlet Knights, long a college football laughingstock, moved into The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in 30 years on Sunday.

No. 23 Rutgers (4-0), led by tailback Ray Rice, the fourth-leading rusher in the nation, is off to its best start since 1980 after beating Howard 56-7 on Saturday.
"I'm not going to downplay it. It is significant considering where we started," Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. "It shows we're making progress in the right direction."
The Scarlet Knights were one of three new teams at the bottom of the new media poll, which was mostly unchanged at the top.
Ohio State is still No. 1 with 59 of a possible 65 first-place votes. No. 2 Auburn, No. 3 Southern California and No. 4 West Virginia each received two first-place votes.
Auburn had 1,513 points and USC had 1,491. The Tigers lead over the Trojans grew nines points from last week.
No. 5 is Florida, followed by Michigan, Texas, Louisville, LSU and Georgia. The only change in the Top 10 was No. 9 LSU flip-flopping with No. 10 Georgia.
Throughout the 1990s, the Scarlet Knights were among the worst teams in Division I-A, routinely getting blown out by their Big East rivals.
Last year, in Schiano's fifth season at the state university of New Jersey, Rutgers had its first winning year since 1992. The Knights went 7-5 and played in the Insight Bowl, their first bowl game since 1978.
The Knights have benefited from an early weak schedule -- three I-A opponents with a combined 4-8 record and a I-AA team -- but of course it wasn't long ago Rutgers couldn't beat anybody.
The Scarlet Knights were 3-20 in Schiano's first two years. They also had a 25-game conference losing streak from 1999-2003.
Schiano, a New Jersey native, was 10 years old the last time Rutgers was ranked in 1976. Those Scarlet Knights went 11-0 and reached as high as No. 17 in the country.
"I don't think of it in a historical perspective," he said. "You need to win to get into those polls, and the Rutgers program has had some up and down times as we know. I'm glad it's happening now and hope to keep it going."
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;_ylt=AtA7CO47pBFTKXx962Vcd.ocvrYF?slug=ap-t25-collegefbpoll&prov=ap&type=lgns

This is amazing. I had to post this. I'm beaming with pride. Come on South Jersey, there is room on the bandwagon!!!

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