If Rutgers wins against Louisville on Thursday night on ESPN, the Scarlet Knights will go bowling for a fourth straight year.
“The bottom line is, if we don’t prepare well and we don’t play well enough to give ourselves a chance to win, there there’s no point in even talking about that,” Rutgers QB Mike Teel said.
Maybe not, Mike, but here are some possible options.
The Charlotte Observer reports that the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte on Dec. 27 will likely feature North Carolina against either No. 23 Pitt or West Virginia.
North Carolina hammered Rutgers, 44-12, on opening night and bowls tend to avoid rematches. A source with knowledge of the bowl landscape said it would appear that Rutgers is not an option for this bowl.
Big East champ Cincinnati will likely end up in the Orange Bowl against the ACC champ.
Pitt could end up in either the Sun Bowl, if it beats UConn Saturday, or the PapaJohns.com Bowl Dec. 29 in Birmingham, Ala., if it loses.
As my esteemed colleague Keith Sargeant of the Home News points out and the source confirms, if Rutgers and Pitt both win, Rutgers would likely play in the PapaJohns.com Bowl, West Virginia would go to the Meineke Car Care Bowl, South Florida to the St. Petersburg Bowl and UConn to Toronto for the International Bowl.
If Rutgers wins and Pitt loses, things become murkier.
West Virginia could get the Sun Bowl bid with a win over South Florida on Saturday night. If West Virginia wins, Rutgers would likely receive an invite from the Meineke while Pitt would go to Birmingham.
COACHING MOVES
**Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis will return for a fifth year, according to reports. The Irish are 6-6 and coming off a 38-3 shellacking at the hands of Southern Cal.
**Oregon announced that offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has been named successor to coach Mike Bellotti when Bellotti steps down and becomes AD next June. Kelly had been listed as a possible candidate for the Syracuse job, vacated when Greg Robinson was fired.
**Texas Tech coach Mike Leach flew to Washington Monday to meet with officials there about their coaching vacancy, according to reports.
**Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis will return for a fifth year, according to reports. The Irish are 6-6 and coming off a 38-3 shellacking at the hands of Southern Cal.
**Oregon announced that offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has been named successor to coach Mike Bellotti when Bellotti steps down and becomes AD next June. Kelly had been listed as a possible candidate for the Syracuse job, vacated when Greg Robinson was fired.
**Texas Tech coach Mike Leach flew to Washington Monday to meet with officials there about their coaching vacancy, according to reports.
