By Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

To appreciate what the Big Ten has meant to Rutgers University through its first four seasons playing in the conference, one should play the what-if game.

What if Rutgers didn’t get the call to join college athletic’s most tradition-rich conference and remained in the American Athletic Conference?

While the Scarlet Knights have struggled mightily in Big Ten competition since 2014-15, there’s no guarantee life would’ve been any easier in the fledgling league formed as a result of the Big East breakup.

After all, Rutgers teams won just 40 percent of its league games in its lone campaign in the American Athletic Conference.

"I'm glad (the wait is) over with and we can get focused on competing (in the Big Ten),'' Julie Hermann said as Rutgers was exiting the American Athletic Conference and joining the Big Ten on July 1, 2014.

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Rutgers Athletics file photo

Standing at a podium set on a stage in the north end-zone of Rutgers’ football stadium, Hermann said “it’s go time’’ for a program that had struggled to gain respectability in many of its sports in the old Big East. She didn’t hide from the widespread belief that the Scarlet Knights would struggle as they stepped up in competition, saying building “a championship culture will take time to construct.’’

It’s been four years since Rutgers officially joined the Big Ten, securing its future by partnering with one of the premier conferences in college sports.

In that time, Rutgers' teams have gained an unprecedented level of television coverage from the Big Ten Network, extraordinary educational opportunities provided by an academic collaboration that exists within the conference, and intangible branding opportunities that come every time an Aaron Judge home run soars toward the Rutgers/Big Ten sign in Yankee Stadium.

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

But as Rutgers enters its fifth season playing games in the Big Ten, the question is what has the university gained from its membership?

Despite the majority of its sports teams residing at or near the bottom of the Big Ten standings — and despite mounting debt as a result of competing with the titans of college athletics — Rutgers officials say they’re as optimistic as the day the Scarlet Knights joined the conference on July 1, 2014.

"I think the Big Ten is a bigger deal now than it was back then,’’ Rutgers AD Pat Hobbs told NJ Advance Media in an interview last week.

Hobbs pointed to Rutgers’ surprising performance in the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament last March, a run to the quarterfinals that saw the Scarlet Knights upset Minnesota and Indiana before losing a competitive affair to No. 8-ranked Purdue.

“I love it when people say ‘the R is back out,’ ‘’ Hobbs said. “When you take some of these premier programs and (fans) see us being competitive against them, I think they’re more excited today than they’ve ever been. So whether it’s seeing the Rutgers sign in Yankee Stadium, whether it’s hearing Rutgers spoken positively about on WFAN or other media outlets, which happened the week of the Big Ten Tournament, it helps (Rutgers) in immeasurable ways. There’s a much greater pride because we’re doing it against Big Ten competition.

"There’s many, many benefits to it, and it’s only going to produce further dividends as we move forward.’’

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Video by Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

On the four-year anniversary of Rutgers’ entrance into the Big Ten, NJ Advance Media is taking a deep dive into what its membership has meant and the future possibilities:

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Report card: How did Rutgers fare in Year 4 of Big Ten?

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Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

On-field performance

Of all the different ways to measure Rutgers' success in the Big Ten through its first four seasons, this one is the easiest to gauge.

A recent NJ Advance Media analysis showed just how much the Scarlet Knights struggled to compete inside the conference.

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Here is Rutgers’ four-year winning percentages in conference play since joining the Big Ten:

2014-15: 50-127-1 (.284)

2015-16: 51-124-2 (.288)

2016-17: 37-132-7 (.230)

2017-18: 39-131-3 (.234)

Overall: 177-514-13 (.260)

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Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The numbers aren't pretty, especially considering Rutgers won approximately 53 percent of its games overall and 44 percent of its conference games in its two seasons prior to joining the Big Ten.

In a wide-ranging interview, Hobbs didn't shy away from the fact that many of Rutgers teams have struggled in Big Ten play.

"No one is satisfied with the current winning percentages,'' Hobbs said, "but it’s not a short-term fix.''

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In his 31-month tenure as Rutgers' AD, Hobbs has set out to arm his programs with the tools necessary to succeed in the Big Ten. Whether it's relatively modest facility upgrades like new playing surfaces and locker room fixes or more ambitious projects like weight-room renovations, Hobbs believes his coaches are better equipped on the recruiting trail.

He also hasn't been shy to shake things up when results are lacking, evidenced by his recent coaching changes in the softball and gymnastics programs.

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'R Awards' Show: Must-see photos of red carpet arrivals

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

“Obviously we’ve had some coaching changes, but we’ve also invested in some facilities that are going to benefit all of our programs,'' Hobbs said. "And it's allowed our coaches to recruit at a higher level right now. When you get those talented freshmen coming in, they’re very different than when they’re juniors and seniors.

"So I think, while we haven’t addressed every program, we’re trying to make investments that benefit our programs across the board.''

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Since taking over as Rutgers AD, Hobbs has hired eight new head coaches. It's a big number considering Hermann appointed half that total in her 27-month tenure.

"I can’t speak to the past, but winning matters to me,'' Hobbs said. "It matters when you’re making investments, when you’re providing resources and doing things differently. It’s really hard to have expectations of a coach where they go into a competition with one hand tied behind their back. So we’re making some of those investments now, and you can have expectations.''

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Hobbs said he believes Rutgers' future investments — such as the $115 million RWJ Barnabas Health Athletic Performance Center (which will house the men's and women's basketball teams and wrestling and gymnastics programs) and the Gary and Barbara Rodkin Center for Academic Success (which will house the men's and women's lacrosse and soccer teams) — are tools all of his coaches can utilize on the recruiting trail.

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Video by Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

"The Big Ten is a huge advantage from a recruiting standpoint,'' Hobbs said. "I think we’re doing a better job marketing the quality of university that we have. Look, I think coaches need to be pushed. You need to sit down and map out the strategy you have and the goals for the year. Coaches can’t enjoy losing.

"So if you can work with them to develop a plan, a strategy and the type of investment that’s going to produce winning, that’s why they're coaching. They expect to be judged. They expect to be evaluated. I think they’re welcoming that frankly.''

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Look at the Scarlet Knights' new facilities and what's coming next

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Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Financial perspective

In its final year as an American Athletic Conference member, Rutgers spent $76.7 million to fund its athletics department. In its third year in the Big Ten, Rutgers' athletics budget was $99.2 million.

But while the 29.3 percent increase shows the university's effort to arm Hobbs and Co. with more competitive teams, Rutgers still only ranked 11th in athletics spending among the 13 Big Ten schools whose financial figures are publicly available in fiscal year 2017.

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Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

"Athletics does cost money,'' Rutgers University-New Brunswick Chancellor Debasish Dutta told NJ Advance Media."Much like big research costs money, big athletics programs in this day of age cost a lot of money. I wish it was less. I think Pat understands the importance of keeping the costs down and being very careful about the spending.

"But if you are in the Big Ten and if you want to be respected, you have to spend money.''

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In his role as the university's New Brunswick-Piscataway campus leader, Dutta oversees more than 50,000 students, 10,000 faculty and staff, 12 degree-granting schools, five academic research centers, three administrative units, an Honors College, Douglass Residential College, and the Zimmerli Art Museum.

Prior to taking over on July 1, 2017, Dutta spent his entire career at a Big Ten institution, serving as a professor of mechanical engineering at Michigan, an associate provost and dean at Illinois and as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity at Purdue.

"I am in full support of the student-athletes and the athletic enterprise at Rutgers because I have spent 35 years in the Big Ten,'' Dutta said. "I have seen the value of a good athletic program when it is in sync with the institutional mission. Academics and athletics working in sync is a huge advantage for the students' quality of life, the spirit for alums, for fundraising, for marketing. And for our faculty, their ability to connect with the other 13 (Big Ten) institutions is huge.''

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Video by Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

He isn't naive to the fact that a significant portion of Rutgers students decry an ever-growing student-fee subsidy. And, of course, he's heard from faculty who bemoan how much money the university funnels to athletics through its general fund.

After the Fiscal Year 2016 report to the NCAA revealed Rutgers athletics had a $38.5 million shortfall in its $83.9 million budget that was made up by $27.2 million in support from the university's operating budget, the Rutgers New Brunswick Faculty Council unanimously voted to pass a resolution deploring the deficit and calling on the athletics program to prepare a "realistic'' financial plan "that will eliminate the program's deficits as quickly as possible.''

The deficit got worse in Year 3 inside the Big Ten. Rutgers' athletics ledger showed a $47.4 million shortfall in a $99.2 million budget that was made up by $21.3 million in support from the university's operating budget, $11.8 million in student fees, and a $14.3 million internal loan.

Of course, that's Rutgers' current financial picture. Hobbs is aware of the financial challenges better than anyone, but he's optimistic about a future that will see the athletics program finally reap the benefits of the Big Ten revenue share in the decade ahead.

Under a six-year integration phase Rutgers was required to go through before earning a full-revenue share, the Big Ten sent New Jersey's state university $9.5 million in its first year (FY2015), $9.8 million following its second season (FY2016) and $16.1 million in the most recent fiscal year.

The increase to the latter number was due to Rutgers taking an advance last year on its future Big Ten revenue share, but it was still only a fraction of what other Big Ten members received — approximately $37 million — in 2017.

Rutgers’ first full-share check from the Big Ten in 2021 is projected to be $44.5 million, and will increase annually throughout the next decade.

It's why Hobbs said "absolutely'' when asked if he expected Rutgers to be a self-sustaining financial program at its 10-year anniversary in 2024.

"That doesn’t mean we’re not going to have some challenges because we see what’s happening with compensation in your revenue sports,'' Hobbs said. "It will regard us making difficult decisions as we move forward. But then the upside on revenue for us is fairly significant.

"For one, we’re in the New York metropolitan area so when you have winning programs you have improved ticket sales. There’s a huge upside for our ticket sales not just in terms of getting people in the seats but being able to at some point, with more competitive teams, being able to move your ticket-price point up a little bit.

"We will come up within that next few years with a new apparel deal, which I expect to have us positioned on a much more of a Power 5-type of a deal. We have naming rights opportunities. We'll revisit on our IMG (marketing revenue) deal at that point.

"As you look across every revenue category — and I include fundraising in that — I really look at this as we’ve been at the bottom and we can move up in those categories, and that will put us in financial sustainability.’’

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A look at Rutgers' nearly $100M in expenditures

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Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Intangible Big Ten benefits

In his first year on the job, Dutta has held several town-hall style meetings on campus to address both his students' and faculty members' concerns. His first one dealt with Rutgers' Big Ten membership and took the university's athletics-spending issue head on.

“The very first town hall, we called it, 'Beyond Football: Rutgers in the Big Ten,' and the room was packed,'' Dutta said. "I have been very clear from Day 1 that we are in the Big Ten and we have a good — a good — athletics program across the board. Yes, in certain sports — not all, but in certain sports — we have a program to build. ... And we are building those programs that get the most publicity and we are improving year by year. I am convinced a couple of years from now we will be at a place in the Big Ten that will take us to bowls and NCAA (tournaments).''

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As part of his town-hall presentation, Dutta scrolled through a power-point slide that illustrated where Rutgers stacked up with its Big Ten peers in terms of budget, research output, diversity, US News & World Report rankings, fundraising, and student success.

"I don’t care if one year or every couple of years we don’t (qualify for) a bowl game. But what I do pay importance to is that we’re respected in the Big Ten,'' Dutta said. "Academics, athletics, the way we operate as an institution — we should be respected and that is most important.''

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Rutgers Today | YouTube.com

According to the "Rutgers in the Big Ten'' report, here is where Rutgers ranked among Big Ten schools:

Enrollment (50,146): 4th

6-year graduation rate (80 percent): 7th

Doctoral degrees (620 in 2015-16): 8th

Salary 10 years after attending ($54,500); 4th

National-academies membership (39): 5th

Total research spending ($628.6 million) 7th

Patents issued (75): 5th

License income ($15.4 million): 5th

U.S. News & World ranking: T-8th

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Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

"When I say, 'we need to be respected in the Big Ten,' you have to consider academics,'' Dutta said. "That, for me, is actually the bigger benefit for the students and the faculty that we have in the Big Ten. Absolutely we are respected. I have done those benchmarks and have compared and contrasted with Michigan, Purdue and all the other Big Ten institutions, and it is abundantly clear that we are very well placed in faculty awards, research value, in student success, graduation rates ... you name it.

"So that’s a lot to be proud of. But this also gives us an opportunity to set some targets, set some goals, and try to improve. Athletics is the same, and I think by being in the Big Ten we now have a peer group that we can very deliberately compare and contrast and set targets against.''

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8 RU teams cited for academic achievements

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Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Academic advantage

While Rutgers' winning percentage has been dismal, its academic performance has dramatically improved since joining the Big Ten.

Rutgers increased the number of student-athletes on the Academic All-Big Ten, producing a record total of honorees in 2017-18.

To be eligible for an Academic All-Big Ten selection, athletes must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.

Here's a look at the number of Academic All-Big Ten honorees produced by Rutgers over the last four years:

2014-15: 196

2015-16: 228

2016-17: 205

2017-18: 249

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RVision1766 | YouTube.com

Hobbs, who was dean of Seton Hall University's law school prior to his arrival at Rutgers, takes pride in the academic performance.

"I give great credit to the academics services staff and the job Scott Walker has done and all the folks that work there in academic support,'' Hobbs said. "I think our coaches’ goal is not just to improve on-field performance but to make sure that we look at all aspects of a student-athlete’s life — how they’re performing in the classroom, how they’re growing as a person, and how they’re growing as an athlete.''

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Rutgers also posted solid across-the-board numbers in the NCAA's latest multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR), which measures academic performance within athletics by accounting for eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or academic term.

One year after eight Rutgers teams were cited by the NCAA for being among the top 10 percent nationally in their respective sports, the athletics program achieved that same record-total in 2018.

Cross country, tennis, volleyball, golf, lacrosse and gymnastics were among the Rutgers women's programs recognized, while baseball and men's cross country were cited among men's teams.

"I continue to be amazed by the student-athletes who represent Rutgers University with such dedication,'' Hobbs said. "Our coaches and athletes take pride in it.''

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Dutta points to Rutgers’ membership in the Big Ten Academic Alliance as proof of that commitment. Formerly called the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the alliance’s goal is to provide opportunities for collaboration among students, faculty and staff members at all 14 Big Ten schools.

According to Keith Marshall, executive director of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, no consortium of universities graduates more students, conducts more funded research ($10 billion in FY2017), or has a longer history of successful collaboration. A complete report on what the Big Ten Academic Alliance does can be found HERE.

"There’s a very well-known established academic leadership program in the Big Ten that we and every other institution get to participate in,'' Dutta said. "So you’re training the future leaders, and this is very important for an institution. There are research initiatives. The traumatic brain injury research collaboration is one example, and that’s the Big Ten and the Ivy Leagues working together to research of sports-related concussions. So now with the medical school, good scientists and engineers, it’s a wonderful opportunity and a program for Rutgers to be a part of.

"With the health-equity initiative now in every state that we have a Big Ten institution, including New Jersey, we're improving the health outcomes of infants and children. There are opportunities for libraries to partner with other Big Ten libraries and make those volumes accessible.

"These are just a few of the examples, and this is the biggest advantage of being in the Big Ten.''

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Money to blame for Rutgers' Big Ten performance?

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Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Optimistic future?

While the academic performance and the intangible benefits are something alums can take pride in, let's face it: the average Rutgers fan wants to know whether on-field performance will improve in 2018-19 and beyond.

"The way I looked at it when I first took over was this was a five-year turnaround,'' Hobbs said. "Any type of turnaround obviously requires an investment. Obviously we’ve made some fairly significant investments in football and (men’s) basketball in terms of coaching staff (changes) and compensation.

"I think people will start to see that paying off more this year, but the two years following (2018-19) I think will be a fairly dramatic turnaround.''

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Dutta echoed that sentiment, adding: "I feel that we are building the athletic enterprise. I will say it's from scratch, because it went through some troubled times, and Pat Hobbs came in, and Bob Barchi had him focus on key parameters. When I came in and I said, ‘Pat, program integrity (and) atudent success — these are the indicators that will define us as an institution and as an athletic program. Focus on that, and he is.

"So I am very optimistic that this year, when fall comes around, you will see marked improvement. I think this is going to be something that people of New Jersey will be very proud of. It’s just a matter of time.''

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Still: the reality is Rutgers is seeking its first Big Ten championship team as it heads into Year 5 of the conference this fall.

"I want to build a sustained winner,'' Hobbs said. "That’s what we’ll be about — sustained excellence — and making the investments that require that.''

As for that winning percentage against Big Ten competition — .234 in 2017-18 — Hobbs said, "I’m very confident that we’re going to see those numbers grow and get to a point where we’re all very proud of it.''

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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Mohamed Sanu talks Art Sitkowski, young Rutgers WRs, Kyle Flood and more

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Video by Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.