Rutgers is officially bowl-eligible for the first time in a decade, and they won’t have to go far to play their extra game this season.
Yankee Stadium, just 50 miles away from Piscataway, is the destination, as the NCAA announced Sunday evening that Rutgers has accepted an invitation to play in the 2023 Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl on Thursday, Dec.
28. Their opponent will be the University of Miami, and kickoff is set for 2:15 p.m. on 12/28, with the game to be broadcast on ESPN and available on WFAN platforms.
“We are thrilled about the opportunity to continue our season and play in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl,” said Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano in a statement issued by the Yankees announcing the matchup. “The bowl experience is a reward for the players. We are blessed with a chance to be together for the next month and to compete against an excellent opponent. Having played in the Pinstripe Bowl before, we know the Yankees do a tremendous job in making this a memorable time for our program.
New York is a great place to be for the holidays and we look forward to seeing our fans at Yankee Stadium.”
The Scarlet Knights went 6-6 this season, their fourth under Schiano in his second stint as head coach, and are making their 12th bowl appearance all-time. Seven of those previous 11 came in Schiano’s two stints, and he is 5-2 as head coach in bowls while the Scarlet Knights are 6-5 all-time.
Congratulations to Coach Schiano, his staff and our remarkable student-athletes on their invitation to the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl,” said Rutgers Director of Athletics Pat Hobbs. “This will be a great opportunity for the team to play in front of our fans one more time this year, and at an iconic venue. I want to thank the Yankees organization for their selection. We look forward to being part of a first-class event.”
This is also Rutgers’ third appearance in the Pinstripe Bowl – the Scarlet Knights beat Iowa State in 2011 and then lost to Notre Dame in 2013 – and their fourth game overall at the new Yankee Stadium, as they also defeated Army in the 2011 regular season.
Rutgers’ last official bowl-eligible season was 2014, when they went 8-5 under Kyle Flood in their first year in the Big Ten and went on to defeat North Carolina in the Quick Lane Bowl. That is not their last appearance, though; the 2021 Scarlet Knights finished 5-7 but earned an invite to the Gator Bowl after Texas A&M backed out due to injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak, and Rutgers went on to lose 38-10 to Wake Forest.