College athletics expansion involves many factors

The Big Ten added Nebraska because it fit their model of guaranteed revenue growth, with 100% certainty that every cable company in their state would add the Big Ten Network. The Big Ten chose Nebraska over gambling with Rutgers. Then, as (possibly) now, the Big XII deciding to stick together at the eleventh hour diminished RU's. If the super conference scenarios come into play, Rutgers not only is a valuable commodity, as Tim Pernetti articulated to Mike Francesa yesterday, but also is a player if only by default to give the ACC and Big Ten leverage for their other desired goals (forcing Notre Dame's hand, capturing the New York City television market, etc...) Yes, Rutgers athletics has been a perennial underachiever since 1869, we know. They haven't been total rubbish either, and anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't been paying attention. Ceiling and potential still matter even if yet unrealized, as should be evident to anyone who has even spent a modicum of time following any level of sports.

The ACC has certainly not devolved into Big East-style disarray, but basketball is a little bit higher on their priorities list than it is for the Big Ten. They acknowledge that factors like football and television revenue play a vital role, but basketball isn't a complete afterthought for them. Ultimately, Tobacco Road couldn't resist adding a national power in Syracuse, or one of the winning-est programs of the past decade with Pittsburgh. Rutgers fans certainly have reason to be optimistic for the future under Mike Rice Jr., of finally realizing the program's long-dormant promise, but that's certainly a long ways off from Syracuse's dominance or even Pitt's sustained success on the court. For now, the guys in Scarlet will have to manage with fending off Providence's zebras any way they can. Someone has to pick up the physical slack with Pitt and Cuse heading for the door.