OTB Staff: 3 Bold Predictions for 2026-2027 Rutgers Sports

Oct 7, 2023; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights football helmets sit on the field during warmups prior to the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images As the 2025-2026 athletic year nears its end, with just the spring sports left to finish, it is time to look ahead to the 2026-2027 athletic year. We here at On The Banks will each make three bold predictions about what the next year of Rutgers sports might have in store for us.

Let us know what you think about our predictions in the comments below! Andrew Rice No. 1: Rutgers Will Continue It’s Upward Trajectory in the NIL World and Be Recognized For It The strides that Rutgers has made in the past year in the world of NIL have been a shock, to say the least.

After being dead last in the conference in terms of NIL due to having an Athletic Director who refused to adapt to the modern state of college sports, we know now that the current administration has catapulted the school forward to make it so that they are at least competitive in the NIL space. That all happened in one year. Less than that, all happened in roughly 8-9 months since Keli Zinn was hired as AD back in July.

So far, the department hasn’t given us a reason to think that it won’t continue, and if sports such as women’s basketball and football show improvement this season, there is no reason why they can’t take the Rutgers NIL program to greater heights. The success of such a drastic turnaround in the NIL world in what would be just under two years will get Rutgers some notoriety for it, even if they still aren’t one of the top earners in the NIL space. No.