The Soccer Run is Over

The Rutgers men didn't make the jump from the Sweet Sixteen to the Elite Eight in this year's NCAA soccer championships.

They lost tonight to UCLA, the same team that beat them in them in the 1990 final game.

Congratulations to the Scarlet Knights on making to the third round this year.

What's at stake with UConn today.

1) BIG EAST: A win in this season finale means that Rutgers will share the Big East crown with Louisville (which won yesterday) and maybe Cincinnati and maybe West Virginia. A tie between Rutgers, Louisville, and Cincinnati would give Rutgers the BCS bid, but all the Scarlet Knights can worry about is hucking the fuskies first (while rooting for Syracuse to lose to the Bearcats).

2) NATIONAL RANKINGS: Rutgers is at number 26 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, at 30 in the AP Poll, 29 in the Harris Poll, 30 in the ESPN Power Rankings... With a convincing win at Rentschler Field today, the Scarlet Knights should be ending the regular season in the top 25 in most, or all, of these polls.

After being picked by "everyone" to finish last in the conference this year, these are not insignificant accomplishments.

I'll be over on Twitter @BeatVisitor tweeting updates this afternoon.

Go Knights.

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Update at the half: UConn 24--Rutgers 10. 21 of the Huskies' points came off turnovers deep in the Rutgers half of the field. In the first drive Juwan Jamison fumbled while being injured, but the good news is that he came back in the 2nd quarter with a taped ankle and scored the one Rutgers touchdown. Connecticut can't count on Rutgers handing them the ball with a short field three more times in the second half.

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Update at the end of the 3rd quarter (because I'm not sure if I'll feel like updating at the end of the game): UConn 40 -- Rutgers 10, and we can't blame it on turnovers this time. And at the beginning of the 4th quarter, UConn just downed another punt at the one-yard line, with Gary Nova making his first appearance at quarterback. My faith in miracles is starting to dwindle though.

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Final: UConn 40 -- Rutgers 22

Have you bookmarked your NCAA bracket yet?

After beating Colgate in the first round and upsetting Boston College yesterday, the Rutgers men are now in the round of sixteen in this year's NCAA Soccer Championships.

Bookmark the bracket by clicking here.

Next Sunday, the 27th, they'll be playing the team that beat the Scarlet Knights for the 1990 championship, the UCLA Bruins. That final match was 0-0, with the Bruins winning on penalty kicks.

The Big East Tie-Breaker Formula

So, if Rutgers beats UConn next week, the Scarlet Knights are assured of a share of the Big East championship. The only question will be, how many other champions will there be. Here's the current crop of contenders:

Big East Overall PF PA STRK

Rutgers 4-2 8-3 294 185 W3

Louisville 4-2 6-5 227 206 W1
Cincinnati 3-2 7-3 337 200 L2
West Virginia 3-2 7-3 368 268 W1
Pittsburgh 3-2 5-5 256 228 W1
Connecticut 2-3 4-6 224 235 L1

And here are the tiebreaker instructions:

All references to "rankings" refer to the BCS Poll released after the regular season is completed for all BIG EAST members.

TWO-WAY TIE

The winner of the head to head match-up will represent the BIG EAST in the Bowl Championship Series.

THREE-WAY TIE

A "MINI-CONFERENCE" IS CREATED AMONGST THE THREE TIED TEAMS

Scenario I:

All three teams have either a 6-1 or 5-2 record and have each won one game and lost one game against the other tied teams in the mini-conference. In this case, the highest ranked team amongst the three earns the bid. If two of the three teams are tied for the highest ranking, the bid is earned by the team winning the head-to-head match up.

Scenario II:

All three teams have 5-2 records, and within the mini-conference, Team A is 2-0, Team B is 1-1, and Team C is 0-2. Team A earns bid regardless of ranking.

FOUR-WAY TIE

A "MINI-CONFERENCE" IS CREATED AMONGST THE FOUR TIED TEAMS

Scenario I:

In the mini-conference, Teams A & B are 2-1, and Teams C & D are 1-2. The higher ranked of the 2-1 teams earns the bid. If the 2-1 teams tie for the highest ranking, the bid goes to the team that won the head-to-head match up.

Scenario II:

In the mini-conference, Team A is 3-0, Team B is 2-1, Team C is 1-2, and Team D is 0-3. Team A earns bid regardless of ranking.

So if Rutgers beats UConn and Louisville and West Virginia both lose a third game, it's simple, Rutgers goes to the BCS bowl, because Rutgers won the head-to-head meetings with Pitt and Cincy. But there are a lot of other ties where Rutgers does not win the BCS spot. We can't worry about that yet. We just need to huck the fuskies next week, as they say, and let the chips fall where they may.

It's Noon and Your Television Should Be On If You're Not at Rutgers Stadium

I'll be tweeting updates to the Cincinnati game over at @BeatVisitor

It's already 7-0 Rutgers with 11'43" left in the first quarter.

The score came on a 12-yard Jamison run up the middle after Bearcat QB Munchie Legaux bit the turf and fumbled.

Let's keep it up Knights. Go RU.

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At the half: Rutgers is up 10-3, but there were too many lost opportunities after strong drives through the middle of the field. Penalties have been especially harmful, and Mohamed Sanu has been quiet. Dodd actually threw what could have been two touchdown passes to Sanu on the 23-play field goal drive, but you have to give credit to the Cincinnati secondary in breaking up both long plays.

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At the end of the 3rd quarter: The defensive star of a dominating defense is Khaseem Greene and the offensive star is Juwan Jamison, who has 170 yards and 2 touchdowns with a full quarter left. The only thing that keeps him looking exactly like Ray Rice today is the fact that he's wearing Brian Leonard's 23 rather than Rice's 27. The score is Rutgers 17- Cincinnati 3. Go Knights!

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And at the final whistle: Rutgers 20 and Cincinnati 3. It wasn't that close. The defense was dominating (and helped by the fact that Munchie Legaux looked like an alumnus of the Tim Tebaux Passing Academy) and the Rutgers running game was dominating, led by Juwan Jamison's 200-yard performance. The passing game was effective, with Chas Dodd going 19/33 for 173 yards. Mohamed Sanu only had 4 of those 19 receptions, but Dodd was able to spread the ball around. There is no quarterback controversy in Piscataway going into next week's Connecticut game.

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Congratulations to all the Scarlet Knights on a very complete and satisfying performance

Is this the Rutgers Helmet for Saturday's game against Army?

If so, which quarterback will be wearing it to start the game at Yankee Stadium?  Gary Nova or Chas Dodd? 

(Update: Greg Schiano announced this morning that Chas Dodd will be the starting quarterback versus the Black Knights next Saturday.  After his performance at the end of last Saturday night's win against the USF Bulls, it shouldn't have even been a question, should it?)