Rutgers has landed in Tampa and will take on the University of Central Florida in a fellow Big East colleague’s backyard. Jim Leavitt of the University of South Florida is said to be so unhappy that he allegedly slapped a player. Not so.

Rutgers and UCF will have the attention of a fertile Florida recruiting bed for about an instant, as they play in what is considered one of the most insignificant bowl games, which kicks off the bowl season Saturday night at 8:00 on ESPN. Rutgers is a slight favorite over UCF which hails from Orlando.

The St. Petersburg Bowl doesn’t pay much ($1 million), but that doesn’t matter because all Big East bowl participants pool their money. It’s timing is bad, coming in the middle of Rutgers final exams, and it only gave the Scarlet Knights two weeks of extra practice instead of three. But its a fitting place for Greg Schiano and his charges. They lost games to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and West Virginia as well as lowly Syracuse. They scheduled Florida International, Howard and Texas Southern to pad their eight-win total.

Schiano has been in charge for nine years and boasts five straight bowl appearances, all of which have been as secondary as the St. Petersburg Bowl. Still, despite his weak scheduling, lack of a Big East title, or a truly signature win, coming up short on studly recruits, and an under .500 record, Schiano has built a program.

Give him credit for installing a first-class operation, top-notch facilities, an expanded and updated stadium, an invigorated fan interest level, and a revamped product that produces TV appearances and bowl games. He’s also made a reputation of turning three-star players into pros.

He has leveraged the New York marketplace, expanded his recruiting footprint, integrated his players into being a real part of the school’s academic reputation and generally made New Brunswick an attractive place to spend four or five years to play football. His past players are extremely loyal and some have recently made it into the NFL draft’s first round.

What he has also done is field a competitive team. Gone are the days of emabarrassing blowouts at the hands of national leaders like West Virginia and former conference mates Virginia Tech and Miami. Under his watch, Schiano’s teams come to play and in their losses are usually only a few properly executed plays away from the win.

This success has put Schiano in the spotlight, having once been considered for the Miami and Michigan jobs, and has positioned his team as a prime target for the 12th spot in the Big Ten. As a land grant state school with a prominent academic reputation, historic Rutgers best fits the mold of Big Ten schools, while opening the conference to the world’s largest media market.

First-year athletic director Tim Pernetti won’t have the experience that Bob Mulcahy gained when the Big East lost Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami to the ACC in 2003. Money and better travel was the main factor according to those making excuses for betraying the Big East. Big East commissioner-at-the-time, Mike Tranghese, almost lost the conference, but managed to attract Cincinnati, South Florida and Louisville as replacements. The Big East has encountered criticism since, for not being BCS-worthy, that continues to this day.

Tranghese and the league countered to enhance its national image by adding Notre Dame, Marquette, Depaul, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Villanova to its basketball conference to form the nation’s best. Tranghese has since been replaced by John Marinatto, who will have to deal with the sneaky and deceitful forces from all sides, during a conference raid.

The fallout from the football bailout in 2003 continues today with the Big East teams resistant to ACC scheduling and banned to play BC, VT or Miami. During the clandestine courtship, many ugly things emerged. First, the ACC shopped through the Big East trying to handpick its new teams. This made for compromised membership and revealed two-faced leaders. Syracuse was a preferred choice, but remained loyal. Miami President Donna Shalala, pulled “a Japan before Pearl Harbor,” by publicly saying the Canes were staying, while secretly negotiating a Big East bombing. Boston College waffled, but eventually sold out as an ACC consolation choice when Syracuse said no. When they left the case grew stronger to make the Big East a football “mid-major.”

Now the Big Ten (or eleven, going on twelve) shops. Central Michigan, Ohio University, Memphis, Pitt, West Virginia, Cincinnati and Rutgers have been speculated upon despite a “top secret” movement headed by the Big Ten’s leadership. Missouri, Iowa State and even Nebraska have been mentioned. First choice, Notre Dame, is always a “can’t get.”

We’ve learned from the ACC experience that conference raids don’t care one bit about how it impacts the raided conference. It’s like all’s fair in love and college football. Let the raided scramble and drop its standards to become whole again. It’s got “trickle down” and “survival of the fittest” dripping all over it. It all comes down to business.

Business and money are the main factors, so Central Michigan, Memphis, Ohio and even Cincinnati have strikes against them. Memphis is a city school, with basketball leanings and doesn’t fit the mold. The Big 12 teams are a longshot although squirrely administrators can change that. Nebraska is intriguing because its working its way back to glory and could see a competitive edge to the Big Ten schedule without losing prestige. The travelling redshirts filled Giants Stadium year’s ago in a now defunct Kick-off Classic against West Virginia, proving that the Husker’s Red Army will travel anywhere.

Memphis looks like a natural fill for any loss to the Big East. Of course, with either Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Syracuse or West Virginia taking a hike, the “mid-major” talk will only increase. If a logical solution to the BCS comes along, conference champions will take a lead and the Big East will have to fight with five other conferences to remain with the Big Ten, PAC 10, SEC, Big 12, and ACC as automatics in any proposed eight to sixteen team playoff bracket.

Pittsburgh is another city school that is also happens to be in Penn State’s backyard. Syracuse is a private school. West Virginia and Rutgers remain logical choices for the Big Ten. WVU would bring the better football team, but the New York marketplace trumps the hills and valleys of West Virginia. Rutgers also has the squirrely president in place, with the malleable Richard McCormick more than capable of leading a Big East backstabbing. Just look at the departure of Bob Mulcahy. The former AD was let go after being the driving force behind everything listed above attributed to Schiano, for allegedly overspending on a stadium everyone now gloats about. A trip to the Big Ten will mean more money for Rutgers, with any of its current teams capable of selling out 53,000 seat Rutgers Stadium and eventually increasing demand, private boxes, advertising and prices.

For Schiano it will mean a boost in recruiting power. There will be future talk of closing in the top decks over the end zones to bring Rutgers Stadium to close to a 70,000 capacity. The move to the Big Ten will also mean more consistency to RU’s schedule, not to mention next-level national recognition and more significant games and bowls.

It will also mean more expensive travel, competitive impact on lesser sports and forced growth to “catch up with the Jones’s.” Big Ten schools may have an edge over RU on some academics and with their physical plants. Endowments should increase and Rutgers will also bring history to the image-conscious Big Ten, as a participant (with Princeton) in the first college football game ever played.

It’s all speculation now and the courting will be done in secret, likely with smokescreens blown at the media and insincere statements from people we expect more from. Greg Schiano, the highest paid public employee in New Jersey, has the most to gain or lose. He’ll lose the comfort of 8-4 records and bowls against Central Florida being rewarded with praise, additional years and raises. Things are very secure for him the way they are now.

But he stands the chance to compete at the top level and show the nation his skills. He’ll be able to play with the big boys without leaving his beloved home. If what he’s told us about the program he’s built is true, he’ll do fine in the Big Ten. If it’s a sham, it will quickly become all about a business, that the leaders at Rutgers had better be prepared to stay in. You can bet that the Big Ten knows this, so let the funny business begin.