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As head coach Greg Schiano exudes confidence about where the Rutgers football program stands, those around the Big Ten are not as convinced.
In the third season of the Big Ten’s latest (and division-less) iteration, the Scarlet Knights are predicted to finish 17th out of 18 teams in the league’s standings, according to Cleveland.com’s annual preseason poll.
The 16th edition of the unofficial poll — which NJ Advance Media voted in — was released Monday ahead of the conference’s media days in Chicago this week.
Rutgers landed in a similar position across other unofficial Big Ten preseason predictions: Athlon and Phil Steele each had the Scarlet Knights finishing 16th in their preseason magazines, while Lindy’s predicted a dead-last 18th-place finish.
Rutgers’ team total wins line is set at 4.5 games over on DraftKings. Our comprehensive DraftKings Sportsbook review will show you how to navigate their platform.
The poor projections come after the Scarlet Knights finished 5-7 last season and snapped a two-year bowl game appearance streak.
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This offseason, Rutgers revamped a defense that was one of the worst in modern Big Ten history last fall and managed to maintain two elite offensive weapons in wide receiver KJ Duff and running back Antwan Raymond. But with starting quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis moving on to the NFL and no successor chosen entering training camp, there is no guarantee the Scarlet Knights can maintain their above-average offensive play from the last two seasons.
The bright side for Rutgers: it will face five teams projected to finish in the back-half of the Big Ten — Nebraska (11), Wisconsin (12), Northwestern (14), Maryland (15) and Michigan State (16).
Here are the full projections from Cleveland.com’s poll for the 2026 season:
1- Ohio State (15 first-place votes)
2 - Oregon (11)
3 - Indiana (5)
4 - USC
5 - Michigan
6 - Penn State
7 - Washington
8 - Iowa
9 - Illinois
10 - Minnesota
11 - Nebraska
12 - Wisconsin
13 - UCLA
14 - Northwestern
15 - Maryland
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16 - Michigan State
17 - Rutgers
18 - Purdue
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