Conferences rarely do its departing members any favors when generating the schedule and Rutgers is no exception in the 2013 football season.
Highlighted by a brutal start to October and two key games on a short turnaround, the Scarlet Knights get the short end in their quest for a for a conference title before the anticipated 2014 move to the Big Ten.
Rutgers hosts Arkansas in what will be one of the most electric non-conference games in the history of High Point Solutions Stadium before transitioning the conference slate.
ESPN and the conference make it an ugly start to the schedule. With ESPN picking games for its Thursday night matchups, the Scarlet Knights have two games on short rest and one back-to-back on the road.
After spending the Oct. 5 weekend in Dallas, Texas against SMU, Rutgers travels to play defending Sugar Bowl champion Louisville on five day’s rest. The Scarlet Knights have not beaten Louisville since Charlie Strong took over and must now do so on the road during a short week.
Rutgers faces its second scheduling hurdle in November, when it travels to Orlando, Fla., on a short week to play UCF after hosting Cincinnati for the final time.
Rutgers rounds off its conference schedule with its first game in Connecticut since the embarrassing stumble in Greg Schiano’s final season and senior day at Rutgers against USF.
With a late end to the season, Rutgers will have to adjust the way it does official visits with fewer opportunities to host prospects before the end of the fall semester.<
| Date |
Opponent |
| Thursday, Aug. 29 |
at Fresno State |
| Saturday, Sept. 7 |
Norfolk State |
| Saturday, Sept. 14 |
Eastern Michigan |
| Saturday, Sept. 21 |
Arkansas |
| Saturday, Oct. 5 |
at SMU |
| Thursday, Oct. 10 |
at Louisville |
| Saturday, Oct 26 |
Houston |
| Saturday, Nov. 2 |
Temple |
| Saturday, Nov. 16 |
Cincinnati |
| Thursday, Nov. 21 |
at UCF |
| Saturday, No. 30 |
at Connecticut |
| Saturday, Dec. 7 |
USF |