PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers football team was ranked 12th in both the final Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today/Coaches Top 25 rankings released Tuesday. The Scarlet Knights finished the season 11-2 overall, including the school's first bowl championship with a 37-10 victory over Kansas State in the inaugural Texas Bowl.
The final ranking of 12th is the highest in school history in the final season rankings, eclipsing the No. 15 ranking Rutgers earned in the final Associated Press poll in 1961.
Rutgers ended the season just one of 14 teams in the nation to record 11 or more victories. The 11 wins tied a single-season school record for the Scarlet Knights. In addition, Rutgers became just the fifth team in BIG EAST history to reach the 11-win plateau in a single-season.
Led by National Coach of the Year Greg Schiano and All-Americans Ray Rice and Eric Foster, the Scarlet Knights return 14 starters in 2007.
Rice established a new BIG EAST single-season record with 1,794 rushing yards in 2006. The First-Team All-BIG EAST selection also set a new conference record with 10 100-yard games this past season. The New York native also finished seventh in the voting for the Heisman Trophy in 2006.
