Rutgers Scarlet Knights
From Hoopedia
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (also known as Rutgers University), is the largest institution for higher education in the State of New Jersey. The eighth-oldest college established in the United States, Rutgers was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. Although it was established as a private institution affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church and admitting only male students, Rutgers is presently a nonsectarian, coeducational public research university that makes no religious demands of its students. Along with the College of William and Mary, Rutgers is one of only two colonial colleges that later were transformed into public universities. Rutgers was designated the State University of New Jersey by acts of the New Jersey Legislature in 1945 and 1956. The flagship campus of Rutgers University is located in New Brunswick and Piscataway.
Rutgers is a member of the NCAA's Division I. Since 1991, Rutgers is a member of the Big East Conference. Since 1866, Rutgers remained unaffiliated with any formal athletic conference and was classified as "independent". From 1946 to 1951, the university was a member of the Middle Three Conference, and from 1958 to 1961, was a member of the Middle Atlantic Conference. Because of its age, being one of the nine colonial colleges, Rutgers was invited to join the Ivy League at the formation of that conference in 1954. However, the university declined. Rutgers remained independent until 1991 when it joined the Big East Conference for football. All sports programs at Rutgers subsequently became affiliated with the Big East in 1995.
Rutgers University's school color is scarlet. Initially, students sought to make orange the school color, citing Rutgers' Dutch heritage and in reference to the Prince of Orange. The Daily Targum first proposed that scarlet be adopted in May 1869, claiming that it was a striking color and because scarlet ribbon was easily obtained. During the first intercollegiate football game with Princeton on 6 November 1869, the players from Rutgers wore scarlet-colored turbans and handkerchiefs to distinguish them as a team from the Princeton players. The Board of Trustees officially made scarlet the school color in 1900.
In its early days, Rutgers athletes were known informally as "The Scarlet" in reference to the school color, or as "Queensmen" in reference to the institution's first name, Queen's College. In 1925, the mascot was changed to Chanticleer, a fighting rooster from the medieval fable Reynard the Fox (Le Roman de Renart) which was used by Geoffrey Chaucer's in the Canterbury Tales. At the time, the student humour magazine at Rutgers was called Chanticleer, and one of its early arts editors, Ozzie Nelson (later of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet fame) was quarterback of the Rutgers team from 1924 to 1926. The Chanticleer mascot was unveiled at a football game against Lafayette College, in which Lafayette was also introducing a new mascot, a leopard. However, the choice of Chanticleer as a mascot was often the subject of ridicule because of its association with "being chicken." In 1955, the mascot was changed to the Scarlet Knight after a campus-wide election, beating out other contenders such as "Queensmen", the "Scarlet", the "Red Lions", the "Redmen" and the "Flying Dutchmen." Earlier proposed nicknames included "Pioneers" and "Cannoneers". When Harvey Harman, then coach of the football team, was asked why he supported changing the Rutgers mascot, he was quoted as saying, "You can call it the Chanticleer, you can call it a fighting cock, you can call it any damn thing you want, but everybody knows it's a chicken." Harman later is said to have bought the first "Scarlet Knight" mascot costume for the 1955 season, which was to be his final season as football coach at Rutgers.
The Louis Brown Athletic Center, more commonly known as the "RAC" (for Rutgers Athletic Center), is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Piscataway, New Jersey on the University's Livingston Campus. The arena opened on November 30, 1977 with a win against rival Seton Hall. The building is shaped like a truncated tent (a design that is no longer allowed for newly built arenas), with the trapezoidal sides on the north and south. It is home to the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights basketball teams, both men's and women's. Previously, the University used the 3,200-seat College Avenue Gym from 1931 to 1977.
Rutgers has a Basketball rivalry with Seton Hall University, and has developed a growing three-way rivalry with the University of Connecticut and Syracuse University both fellow Big East Conference members.
Men's Basketball
This tournament was the last NCAA Division I men's tournament to date to feature two unbeaten teams, as both Indiana and Rutgers entered the tournament unbeaten. Both advanced to the Final Four, with Indiana winning the title and Rutgers losing to Michigan in the semifinals and UCLA in the third-place game. Rutgers went 31-0 before losing in both the semifinals (to Michigan) and the third-place game (to UCLA).
Women's Basketball
The Scarlet Knights Women's basketball team of late has been one of the more successful programs in the school. A notable season would be the 2005-2006 season, when Rutgers at one point was ranked 4th in the nation and reached the Elite Eight behind the shooting of Cappie Pondexter. In the 2006-07 season, Rutgers finished 2nd in the regular season behind UConn, but went on to defeat the Huskies in the Big East Championship game.
Rutgers beat 1st seeded Duke 53-52 in the 2007 NCAA tournament.
