Don't wait until the last minute to reserve your flight!

The first 2009-2010 bowl predictions are coming in and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights are getting some respectable early-season picks from the mainstream football press (if anything, the Rutgers fans and bloggers themselves are being a lot more conservative, at least publicly).

ESPN has Rutgers playing in Charlotte on December 26th in the Muffler Bowl (the Beat Visitor style guide calls for no brand names whenever possible, and you know which bowl we mean) against either Clemson or North Carolina.

Sports Illustrated has the Scarlet Knights meeting Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl on January 1. Like ESPN, SI also has Rutgers ranked at #27 in their first Power Rankings, the highest of the Big East teams (just ahead of West Virginia at #28).

Brian Bennett, the Big East blogger for ESPN, also has the Knights playing football in New Orleans on New Years Day.

Is it too early to check Orbitz for flights to Louisiana and hotel rooms in the French Quarter?

Beat Visitor Is a "No Prediction" Zone

It's not just a fear of jinxing the only team that we care about -- especially in a year like the coming year when almost* every team in the Big East has a chance to win it all -- but this article on Scarlet Scuttlebutt today shows the sheer futility of trying to sort out this year's race in advance of the first game.
A lot of professional prognosticators are going to be left looking very silly on December 5 when the undefeated Scarlet Knights finally emerge from the pack by beating a previously-undefeated group of Mountaineers (Oh, right. Sorry. No predictions.).

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*UConn, Syracuse, and Louisville fans should not let their hopes get too high.

Preseason Prognostications at the New York Times and ESPN.com today

First the Times, where this afternoon Paul Myerberg in The Quad blog, places Rutgers at #34 of 120 (last year he placed the Knights at #58 at the beginning of the season and re-ranked them at #34 at the end):

...Everything is in place for a conference title run. And I would not be surprised at all to see Rutgers claim its first Big East championship, though I am predicting this team will finish third in the conference, trailing Cincinnati and West Virginia. I’m concerned about a lack of explosiveness from this Scarlet Knights offense, which will break in a new quarterback while struggling to locate depth at wide receiver. {...} Only a major slip-up would prevent the Scarlet Knights from winning at least eight games for the fourth consecutive season.

Over at ESPN.com this morning, Brian Bennett made three predictions about Rutgers' upcoming season. 1) Tom Savage (#7 on the new roster, taking Tiquan Underwood's lucky jersey) will start at some point this season, 2) the Knights will have at least 9 wins, and "If things break right, the Scarlet Knights could be looking at a 10- or even 11-win season -- and their first Big East title," and 3) that Anthony Davis will be leaving the Banks of the Old Raritan for the pros on the first day of the next NFL draft.

The Quote of the Day About the 2009 Scarlet Knights

"I actually think there's a decent chance, assuming that they get off to a good start, that Rutgers will be favored in every game it plays this year, including Big East games. A nine- or 10-win season is a real possibility for the Scarlet Knights."

--Brian Bennett, ESPN.com,
26 June 2009

That isn't the only love given to the Rutgers football team by a writer for a sports network's website this week. Dennis Dodd of CBS Sportsline picked our shining Knights in scarlet armor to win the Big East on Tuesday.

Not to put any pressure on them (not that any of the players read BeatVisitor.com) but the Cincinnati game this Labor Day is much bigger than the Fresno State game last Labor Day (and that was a big game). If they do beat the Bearcats, they will be on an eight-game winning streak and they definitely will be favored in every following game (unless they lose and break the string). 9 wins Brian?? 10 wins? Why not 12? Or 13 with a bowl win in January?

It's not too early to start making this year's bowl predictions

It may have been too early back in mid-August when a certain national magazine (which rhymes with "Warts Illustrated") picked the Scarlet Knights to play the Wolverines in the Rose Bowl.

But with one game left for the Knights against the Louisville Cardinals next Thursday, it's not too early to predict where we'll be travelling in the holiday season this year.

Please vote in the sidebar poll; tell us whether you think we should make our travel reservations for El Paso, Birmingham, Charlotte, Toronto, or somewhere else.

On ESPN.com, Ivan Maisel has the Knights playing Southern Miss in the PapaJohns Bowl and Mark Schlabach has the Knights playing Bowling Green in the International Bowl. CBS Sportsline.com has the Knights playing Florida State in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. And Sports Illustrated seems to be stepping back from their pre-season Rutgers/Michigan matchup, with Stewart Mandel at SI.com also having Rutgers against Florida State in North Carolina.

So, what's your pick?

"When You Ain't Got Nothing, You Got Nothing to Lose"

Bob Dylan could be giving advice to the Buffalo Bulls in this line from "Like a Rolling Stone."

Is anyone else just a little nervous about this opening game on August 30th? My season tickets didn't even come in the mail yet, but I'm already getting a little knot in my stomach.

When I see these predicted results for the 2007 Buffalo Bulls in this preview page from Athlonsports.com, I can't help thinking that this is a desperate team with nothing at all to lose -- and the world to gain -- by pulling out all stops, using all its tricks, and playing over its head against a highly-ranked Rutgers team.

A team that's being shown such complete preseason disrespect -- "hey, maybe you'll win one . . . against Temple" -- can be a dangerous team. A Rutgers team that was treated lightly shocked the football world at the beginning of the 2004 season by beating Michigan State. And, of course, those same Scarlet Knights lost to New Hampshire in their second game of the 2004 season. That's what scares me. The Knights won't have any trouble getting up for Louisville and West Virginia, but they can't ignore the New Hampshires and Cincinnatis and Buffalos and Norfolk States on their road to a third-straight bowl bid.