Rightful Place in the Big Ten

Wrestling Champs Member of women's soccer final four team

Rutgers University–New Brunswick joined the Big Ten in 2014. Competing in the powerhouse conference turned out to be as hard as Rutgers imagined—but in short order yielded many highlights.

  • Wrestling: Nick Suriano and Anthony Ashnault won national titles in 2019 (above, left)
  • Women’s Soccer:  Final Four in 2015 (above, right)
  • Men’s Lacrosse: Consistently among the nation’s top 20
  • Field Hockey: NCAA tournament bid in 2018, first since 1986
  • Men’s Basketball: Sports Illustrated’s most improved Division I program in 2018–19

A $100 million fundraising campaign to construct Big Ten-quality athletic facilities supported the RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center, Marco Battaglia football practice complex, Fred Hill training complex, Abe Suydam men’s basketball locker room, and Ron & Joanna Garutti and Harriet & Bob Druskin strength and conditioning centers. A second phase would include the Gary & Barbara Rodkin Center for Academic Success and an upgraded football locker room.

Within the Big Ten Academic Alliance, Rutgers led in several areas of collaborative research, including regenerative medicine, bioexploration, and visualization and data analytics for homeland security.