Rutgers Scarlet Knights football

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Program Information
Nickname:	Scarlet Knights
Conference Affiliation:	Big East
Current Head Coach:	Greg Schiano, 6 yrs, 29-41-0
Highest BCS Ranking:	6th
Awards
National Titles:	0
Heisman Winners:	0
Consensus All-American Selections:
College Football Hall of Famers (players and coaches):	Paul Robeson
Records
All-time Record:	562-573-43
Bowl Record:	0-2
BCS Record:	0-0
Pageantry
Colors:	Scarlet
Outfitter:	Nike
Fight songs:	The Bells Must Ring, Colonel Rutgers
Mascot:	Scarlet Knight
Marching Band:	The Marching Scarlet Knights "The Pride of New Jersey"
Stadium:	Rutgers Stadium (c. 41,500, FieldTurf)
Rivals:	Princeton UConn Syracuse Louisville West Virginia

For the current year's team, see 2006 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Football Team

The Scarlet Knights football program, representing Rutgers University was one of the first football programs in the nation, and consequently is the oldest team in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. In the first football game ever played, on November 6, 1869, against Princeton University, Rutgers won 6-4.

Rutgers had traditional football rivalries with Princeton and Columbia. In 1873, representatives from Rutgers, its two rivals, and Yale, had the first meeting to codify rules for the emerging sport of college football.

[edit] Conference history

For much of its existence, the football team has not been associated with any formal football conference. This is due, in part, to the Rutgers football program pre-dating the first formal intercollegiate athletic associations.

In the early 1900's, Rutgers, along with Navy and Army, competed in football and other sports as part of what would later become the Ivy League. Eventually, when the Ivy League was formally organized in 1945, Rutgers was in the process of becoming the state university of New Jersey and declined to join.

From 1946 to 1951, Rutgers was a member of the Middle Three Conference, winning that conference's championship in the first four years of its membership from 1946-1949. It became independent team again in 1952.

Rutgers was a member of the Middle Atlantic Conference from 1958-61. The college won the conference championship in three of those four years (1958, 1960, and 1961). Rutgers once again went independent until it joined the Big East Conference in 1991, where it remains.

[edit] The 2006 season

After joining the Big East, the Rutgers football program slowly slid to becoming one of the worst teams in Division I, until recently. This was thanks to the hiring of Coach Greg Schiano, who led the Knights to their first bowl game in twenty seven years while taking the 2005 team to the Insight Bowl. Then came New Jersey's greatest season in a generation with the 2006 Scarlet Knights football team, which at the high point of its season, beat number three Louisville in a gigantic upset that caused Rutgers to be ranked number six in the national polls, setting new school records in the process.

On December 3rd, 2006 Rutgers officially accepted an invitation to the Texas Bowl to compete with Kansas State on December 28th, 2006. This marks the third time in Rutgers history that Rutgers has been invited to a bowl game.

The 2006 team featured players such as Maxwell finalist, HB Ray Rice, QB Mike Teel, FB Brian Leonard, TE Clark Harris, WR Kenny Britt, WR Tiquan Underwood, All-American, DT Eric Foster, LB Devraun Thompson, S Courtney Greene, K Jeremy Ito, and P Joe Radigan.