Big Ten Insider Offers High Praise for 2025 Rutgers Scarlet Knights After Visit
Could the 2025 Rutgers Scarlet Knights be Greg Schiano’s best team since his return to the program? The team is certainly an intriguing one in the Big Ten this season.
Rutgers enters 2025 with a solid roster, returning significant production on both offense and defense. However, does that make them contenders in the tough Big Ten conference? Not exactly.
While a total letdown of a season seems unlikely, expectations are mixed. Still, there’s growing belief that this could be Schiano’s most competitive squad since he rejoined Rutgers in 2020. 
After visiting the team’s training camp on Wednesday, Big Ten Network’s Gerry DiNardo was clear about his opinion on whether this could be Schiano’s best team: “Absolutely.”
DiNardo, along with Dave Revsine and Jake Butt, spent time with Rutgers as part of their tour around the conference and came away impressed by what they saw. Once practice wrapped up, the conversation shifted to the upcoming schedule.
Rutgers’ 2025 schedule is considered “tougher than the Big Ten East,” and it’s certainly loaded. The Scarlet Knights will face off against powerhouse programs like Penn State, Ohio State, and Oregon, plus a challenging road matchup against Illinois.
Can Rutgers Pull Off Big Upsets?
Rutgers has struggled against ranked teams, currently sitting on a 41-game losing streak to such opponents—the longest streak among Power 5 programs. Schiano knows it’s time for the program to break through and start winning big games.
“We’re at the point now where we’ve got to compete,” Schiano said. “I understand who we’re playing, we all do. We look at the rankings and see a tough schedule, but we need to win those games.”
In 2024, Rutgers avoided facing the conference’s top teams, finishing with a solid seven wins. But with elite programs in the picture this year, this could be an improved Rutgers team, ready to prove itself.
Schiano recognizes that it’s time for the Scarlet Knights to start winning those difficult Big Ten games, and that will be the expectation going forward.
“This is going to be a fascinating team,” Revsine said. “I’m really interested to see them. Clearly, progress is being made here—no doubt about it. The final record may not reflect that progress, but as Schiano said, they need to start winning those tough games. We’ll see if this is the year they do it.”
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