[tweeterhawk]

But not in the way you might think.

RU Football: More to LOSE than Gain in Pinstripe Bowl | NJ.com

Rutgers versus Iowa State is announced. You say, "What round of the women's NCAA tournament are we in?" No...not the Women's NCAA...the Pinstripe Bowl.

It's great that Rutgers is bowling once again. It's great that Rutgers had such a great turnaround season that they get to be in a bowl game. It's great to see Rutgers finish at 8-4 and 4-3 in the Big East when we were picked last.

Now...that does NOT matter. Yes...I said it. It does NOT matter anymore.
Why?

The only numbers that now matter are the numbers 52,325 and 38,274.

What are those numbers you ask?

The first number is the capacity of the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. The second number is the attendance of last year's Pinstripe Bowl that local Syracuse and less than traveling Kansas State met.

Why do those numbers matter so much?

It's simple, with a team that doesn't have a huge fanbase in the greater New York area, in Iowa State, Rutgers NEEDS NEEDS NEEDS to sell tickets in order to fill the stadium. The second number is the number Rutgers MUST meet in order to justify the program as a good traveling football program, is not just a fair weather fan program (no pun intended), and justify Greg Schiano's program as a program with a trusting fan base. Getting as close to the first number as possible will justify Rutgers as being an excellent traveling program and show that Rutgers is the biggest and best in the Big East.

The problem with this is Iowa State coming to NYC does not add a huge opinion from Rutgers fans that this is a must see. The fans will have to brave the weather, which hopefully will be unseasonably warm, to go see a Rutgers team that ended the season without any form of punch. Likewise, Iowa State ended their last two games with two losses as well, though against much better competition than Rutgers. Still, both ended the season with a down note rather than a positive one and the only selling point behind Iowa State was their upset of Oklahoma State which removed OSU from the National Championship.

[ssckelley]

The writer is correct. Evidently of the NCAA football fans in NYC the #1 team is Rutgers so this game should be a home game for them. Anything less than a sell out would be a disappointment. Conferences may be looking at this game to see how big of an influence Rutgers really has in the NYC market.

[tweeterhawk]

Originally Posted by ssckelley

The writer is correct. Evidently of the NCAA football fans in NYC the #1 team is Rutgers so this game should be a home game for them. Anything less than a sell out would be a disappointment. Conferences may be looking at this game to see how big of an influence Rutgers really has in the NYC market.

Not much. New Jersey and New York are very top-heavy for professional sports. The week between Christmas and New Year's is a peak travel period, so even RU fans who might otherwise might have attended already have flights arranged to see family, to go someplace warm or to the ski slopes out West. The students will be on break and very unlikely to return to the New York area to go to a bowl game.

[ssckelley]

Evidently NYC has a large fan base of Rutgers alumni. You are asking them to fill a stadium that only holds 52,325 of that there will be a good portion of ISU fans attending. Plus factor in that Newark is not far away there is no excuse for this game to not be a sell out.