Blue White Illustrated

ore than 6,000 fans poured into the Rutgers Athletic Center in mid-January for the Scarlet Knights' first Big Ten wrestling match against border rival Penn State. It made for an electric Friday night atmosphere. Maybe it wasn't as hostile as when the football team played down the road at High Point Solutions Stadium in the fall, but it wasn't exactly friendly either. At times – especially after RU's back- to-back wins – the crowd was deafen- ing. Music blared. Lights flickered. Video screens lit up. There were even smoke cannons. Yes, smoke cannons. "I thought it was a great crowd," Cael Sanderson said following his team's 28- 6 victory. "They were into it when they won those matches. The place got pretty loud, and there was a lot of excitement." Perhaps even more noteworthy, though, is that 6,071 was the largest at- tendance figure in Rutgers wrestling history. Sure, a strong Nittany Lion contingent boosted that number – "They have people in New Jersey who love their program," coach Scott Goodale said before the match, "and we have to turn them all into Rutgers fans" – but there was also something else working in its favor. Rutgers is now competing in wrestling's strongest conference. Simi- lar to how the Southeastern Conference dominated football for a large part of the past decade, the Big Ten is the bully of wrestling. Moving into a conference that has won the past eight national ti- tles gave the Scarlet Knights instant credibility – although they already had a strong tradition – and it has increased their public appeal. For instance, when Penn State last visited the RAC only two years ago, 2,500 fewer fans came out. Their arrival also gives Big Ten teams another raucous environment in which to compete. I mean, c'mon: there were smoke cannons. RU's recruiting is on an upswing, and the team should be well represented at the NCAA tournament this March, too. Some fans were even overheard at the dual meet talking about how a Big Ten championship could be only a couple years away. Might take a few more years than that, but at least the expectations are there. It's amazing what a conference affilia- tion can do. Said Sanderson, "Just being in the Big Ten will help propel them for- ward." Some Penn State football fans found themselves thinking along similar lines earlier in the month as they rooted for Ohio State to win the inaugural College Football Playoff. It was an unfamiliar sensation for many – pulling for the team that has always been the enemy – but with their victories over Alabama and Oregon, the Buckeyes chipped away at the reputation the Big Ten has ac- quired in recent years as being inferior on the gridiron. If anything, aside from the obvious fi- nancial gains, being affiliated with the Big Ten has hindered teams the past few seasons, rather than serving as a boost as it has done for Rutgers in wrestling. But Ohio State's 42-35 victory over Alabama in the semis proved that the Southeastern Conference isn't imper- meable; the Big Ten, or at least its best team, isn't a pushover. And when the Bucks beat Oregon by 22 points in the title game, it validated the Big Ten's case that it can compete with the country's best. (Even after the playoffs, it was Penn State that held Ohio State to its lowest regular-game point total of the season.) In a press conference the day after winning the title, head coach Urban Meyer said the championship was "huge" for not only his team, but for the Big Ten, as he believes that "football is cyclical" and this could be the start of a conference shift. "The door is open," he said. "You move to the front of the line." A single championship, however, isn't going to completely reverse the percep- tion that has enshrouded the conference recently. It might vouch for its better teams – Wisconsin also defeated Auburn – but if anything, it's top-heavy. The wrestling division gets the SEC comparisons due to its foundation: strong all the way to the bottom. Take Rutgers, for example. At this year's dual meet, the Knights were ranked as a top- 25 team nationally... but also one of the worst three teams in the Big Ten. Of course, the two sports are com- pletely different animals – wrestling could only dream of having 128 teams competing – but it's a successful model to follow. Although in football the Nittany Lions took Ohio State to the wire this year, they finished in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten and made a minimal splash on the national landscape. Addi- tionally, only three Big Ten teams fin- ished in the final AP Top 25. "I still think top to bottom, we have some work to do in our conference," Meyer said. "But it's moving." That national championship could prove to be a massive step in the right direction. A 6-5 overall bowl record could help, too. Ohio State's national championship might not result in instant improvement for all, but at least it's a start in reclaim- ing respect. Even if it's just to help the visibility and allure, similar to the im- pact that Big Ten membership has had on Rutgers wrestling. ■ LAST WORD T I M O W E N | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . C O M M Depth perception

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