In Reply to: UCLA 10 to 11.5-point favorites over SDSU. posted by mh on September 06, 2026 at 20:50:58
We've had a couple of days to let Rutgers' loss to UMass marinate and, no, it hasn't gotten easier to comprehend. In fact, it's probably more baffling when layered with more context about just how bad Massachusetts football has been since going from the FCS to FBS in 2012.
During that time, 121 other programs have been constant in college football's highest tier, and all of them have won at least a quarter of their games. Kansas has the second-worst winning percentage (.257), and UTEP (.277) was the worst among non-power conference teams. They won 43 and 46 games, respectively, in that span.
Then, there is UMass. The Minutemen won just 26 games over the past 14 seasons, with a winning percentage of .163. And it gets worse: Against FBS opponents, UMass was just 19-129 (.128) and 0-32 against opponents from power conferences. It has never won more than four games in a season and finished last year with the nation's longest losing streak (16 games). We could go on, but you get the point. UMass is so far from relevance that it would be easy to understand how a casual fan might not know it was in the FBS or had a football program.
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UMass Minutemen vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights: Full Highlights
All of that adds to the beauty of what happened in Piscataway, New Jersey, on Thursday. There was nothing to suggest that Rutgers should have needed to break a sweat before moving to 1-0. Build a lead, get the starters out, let the walk-ons get their snaps, etc. Instead, UMass provided an early reminder that even as the resource and talent gap between the Big Ten/SEC and everyone else grows, occasionally, the unthinkable can happen.
It doesn't feel like Rutgers can recover from this loss. Greg Schiano's return was an interesting idea, but after six mediocre seasons, this was an unforgivable way to begin Year 7. The wind isn't out of the sails as much as the sails caught fire and the boat has capsized.