All it took for Rutgers to get a bowl invitation is an outbreak during a pandemic.
The Scarlet Knights are expected to replace COVID-19-plagued Texas A&M in the Gator Bowl on Dec. 31.
NJ.com reported the news on Wednesday.
The Scarlet Knights are expected to receive and accept an unexpected Gator Bowl invitation after a COVID-19 outbreak at Texas A&M knocked the Aggies out of the New Year’s Eve game against Wake Forest, several people with knowledge of the situation told NJ Advance Media.
Rutgers plans to accept a bid when offered and it has the highest Academic Progress Rate score among all available 5-7 teams, according to the individuals. The NCAA’s football oversight committee will need to sign off on Rutgers’ candidacy and player safety matters in a Thursday meeting, but that is expected to be a formality.
The Scarlet Knights have not played in a bowl game since 2014 when they defeated North Carolina, 40-21, in the Quick Lane Bowl. That ended a run of four straight bowl invites for Rutgers.
The 2021 Scarlet Knights had a 5-7 record in the regular season. They compete in the Big Ten. Rutgers is coached by Greg Schiano, who is in his second tenure at the school.
After Texas A&M had to back out of the Gator Bowl due to not having enough players, schools such as Illinois and Marshall were in the mix for the multi-million-dollar payday.
Due to combination of COVID-19 issues w/in Texas A&M program & season-ending injuries, Aggies down to 38 scholarship players – only 13 on defense. “It is unfortunate, but we just don’t have enough scholarship players available to field a team,” Coach Jimbo Fisher said.
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 22, 2021
However, it apparently came down to this, reports NJ.com:
Bowl selection guidelines allow for teams with 5-7 records to be awarded bowl bids based on Academic Progress Rate scores in the event there are not enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all bowl slots nationally. Texas A&M’s shutdown creates an opening and Rutgers’ APR should put it into the game. While a decision is not final, the most likely outcome is Rutgers will replace the Aggies and face the Demon Deacons, ending the second-longest bowl drought among Power Five programs dating back to 2014. Only Kansas (2008) has gone longer without a bowl bid. Oregon State had its eight-year drought end earlier this season.