The Texas A&M Aggies went 8-4 this season, defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide, and earning an invite to the 2021 Gator Bowl on December 31 where they would take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
Instead, the 5-7 Rutgers Scarlet Knights will be taking their place after the Aggies were forced to drop out of the game due to the high number of players testing positive for COVID-19 in the week leading up.
It was immediately noted that Wake still wanted to play and the bowl game was scrambling for a replacement opponent. The assumption initially was that this new opponent would have to be a team that has qualified for the postseason and has already played. However, the focus quickly shifted to 5-7 teams that topped the APR rankings who could act as bowl game alternates.
The team at the top of that list was Rutgers and Greg Schiano’s program lept at the chance to play in the postseason despite the fact that they have a losing record, haven’t practiced in weeks, and are in the midst of a COVID outbreak.
The news became official on Thursday afternoon.
Rutgers makes it official. The Scarlet Knights are set to take A&M's spot and play Wake Forest in the Gator Bowl.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 23, 2021
Not a bad turn of events for the Scarlet Knights, assuming they can get a majority of their players tested negative and that they’re capable of competing given their time off. According to Brett McMurphy, Gator Bowl officials initially thought that Rutgers would not accept the bid because the team hadn’t practiced in nearly four weeks and would have only nine days to prepare. However, the school apparently thought otherwise.
The reaction to the news about Rutgers getting to play in the Gator Bowl despite having a lost record, and how that impacts Wake Forest, was immediate.
Wake Forest’s two all-time Gator Bowl appearances have now been against teams with losing records https://t.co/a434OLa1fe
— Matt Brown (@MattBrownCFB) December 23, 2021
Rutgers went 10-2 in 2006 & ended up in the Texas Bowl. The Scarlet Knights went 5-7 in 2021 & are heading to the Gator Bowl. Go figure!
— Tom Sileo (@TSileo) December 23, 2021
Nothing says, "We are not losing that television money!" more than the Gator Bowl scrambling to give us 5-7 Rutgers (2-7 in last 9) against Wake Forest. https://t.co/UfnvaN02ix
— Jeff Schultz (@JeffSchultzATL) December 23, 2021
— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) December 23, 2021
The odds are against Rutgers winning this game, literally, especially given how powerful the Wake Forest offense has been all season long.
