Here's how much Rutgers spent on its football roster – and how it compares to top teams

Rutgers football has more resources than it previously had, but there’s still a long way to go.

According to a report from The Athletic, the Scarlet Knights have an NIL roster budget of between $20 and $23 million, which ranks them 14^th out of the 18 Big Ten teams and 46^th out of the 68 Power 4 teams.

The only Big Ten teams who rank below Rutgers are Illinois ($19-23 million), Minnesota ($18-22 million), Iowa ($17-21 million) and Purdue ($16-20 million).

While budgets are not publicly available, The Athletic surveyed officials from throughout programs throughout the Power 4 conferences to learn the data and form estimates.

It’s not surprising that the teams with the largest budgets are among the best teams in the nation.

That includes Ohio State ($49-54 million), Oregon ($48-54 million) and Texas ($45-55 million) at the top, followed by the former school of Rutgers athletic director Keli Zinn, LSU, at $47-50 million.

The Scarlet Knights' upcoming opponent, No. 11 USC, has a robust budget of $37-40 million, which is third in the Big Ten.

Zinn during a recent meeting with local reporters would not confirm the Scarlet Knights’ exact roster budget, but confirmed the number is between $20-30 million, which checks out with The Athletic’s reporting.

Rutgers has lost its first two games of the season to UMass and Boston College. UMass is now in a Power 4 conference so its budget isn’t listed, but the Eagles’ budget is ranked last at $8-13 million.

While Rutgers’ budget doesn’t excuse either of its first two losses, it still shows the Scarlet Knights lag behind most of their Big Ten peers.

That’s also not surprising considering the absence of an NIL infrastructure that existed prior to Zinn’s hiring.

Until that point Schiano was left on his own to fundraise for his program.

Now he has more support around him, but there’s still work to be done for Rutgers to compete with the conference’s top – or even middle-of-the-pack – teams when it comes to roster budgets.  

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Here's how much Rutgers spent on its football roster – and how it compares to top teams