Big Ten laughingstock predicted to have best finish in a decade

Within the Big Ten, Mandel has the Scarlet Knights finishing tied for fifth place in the conference, along with Penn State and Wisconsin. He believes Rutgers is "poised for a breakthrough" after it was able to end the 2023 season with a 7-6 record and defeat Miami in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Mandel isn't the only notable college football personality hopping on the Rutgers bandwagon, as longtime Big Ten Network host Rick Pizzo also recently shared his belief that the school has the potential to win at least nine games during the 2024 season.

Pizzo points out that Rutgers has the luxury of not having to play a number of the top teams in the Big Ten this year, avoiding Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon, Penn State and Iowa. The school also only has one opponent on its schedule, USC, that is currently ranked in the preseason AP top 25.

Either win total would be a huge achievement for the Rutgers, which has finished near, or at, the bottom of the Big Ten for the majority of the last decade. But even if the school is unable to win at least eight games in 2024, just finishing with a winning record would be a big accomplishment as well, giving the Scarlet Knights their first back-to-back winning seasons since 2011 and 2012.

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano has already turned the school's football program around once before when he took a 2-9 team in 2001 and led them to an 11-2 finish in 2006. Currently in his second stint with the Scarlet Knights, can Schiano help the school achieve similar heights during the upcoming season?