There remains a faction of Rutgers’ faculty and perhaps a small sector of its student population that hope Michigan State pounds the Scarlet Knights into football oblivion this weekend.

That’s still the dream, however unrealistic, for a select group of Rutgers sentimentalist scholars — football oblivion.

The idea: “Every time that football franchise loses, Rutgers wins,” English professor and fervent dissenting voice William C. Dowling said.

Rutgers found its way to the Big Ten against incredible odds, but not by accident — its football rise willed by a visionary athletic director and an undaunted coach, against a spirited but outnumbered idealistic resistance.

Football elevated an entire university, while others argue it ruined it beyond repair.

Rutgers football, until the last decade, was known for two things — being the birthplace of the sport in 1869, and being awful. - Read more at LSJ.com