Ryan Dunleavy

@rydunleavy

PISCATAWAY – Just when the Rutgers football fan might have begun getting a grasp on what bowls are out there among the ever-changing names of games and their tie-ins, the Scarlet Knights joined the Big Ten.

Well, that messed up everything, didn’t it? For example, Rutgers, which became bowl eligible Saturday by beating Indiana, could go back to the Pinstripe Bowl for the third time in four years representing a third different conference because the Yankee Stadium game now has a Big Ten affiliation.

The Big Ten already has nine bowl-eligible teams to fill its 10 guaranteed slots and could get as many as 11 if Michigan beats Maryland (or stuns Ohio State) and if Northwestern builds off its upset of Notre Dame by beating the two teams tied for last in the West Division (Illinois and Purdue).

“I could care less,” Rutgers senior linebacker Kevin Snyder said when asked where he wants to go. “I don’t know what bowl games there are for the Big Ten. It doesn’t matter.”

Each bowl will be asked to rank its first, second and third choice and each school will be asked for its preferences instead of a bowl selecting a school as was the case in the past, according to a BTN.com report. Here is a closer look at the bowl options most likely available to Rutgers (6-4, 2-4):

Foster Farms Bowl

Date: Dec. 30

Time: 10 p.m.

Place: Levi’s Stadium/Santa Clara, Calif.

Affiliation: Big Ten vs. Pac-12

Most likely opponents: UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, USC, Utah

Skinny: Formerly known as the Fight Hunger Bowl, the Emerald Bowl and the San Francisco Bowl, this game would be the premier realistic destination for Rutgers, which could draw a ranked team out of college football’s second-best conference. It likely needs at least one more win to draw serious consideration, however. Rutgers-Utah would pit the two biggest winners in conference realignment, or Rutgers could get a chance to avenge losses to Arizona State in the 1978 Garden State Bowl and the 2005 Insight Bowl.

Quick Lane Bowl

Date: Dec. 26

Time: 4:30 p.m.

Place: Ford Field/Detroit

Affiliation: Big Ten vs. ACC

Most likely opponents: Boston College, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, North Carolina State

Skinny: Operated by the Detroit Lions, the inaugural Quick Lane Bowl replaces the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, which previously was known as the Motor City Bowl. Rutgers could reunite with old Big East foes Boston College or Virginia Tech – the only time it has played either since they split for the ACC in the early 2000s was a loss to Virginia Tech in the 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl – or get a rematch of another pizza bowl – the 2008 Papa John’s Bowl against North Carolina State.

Heart of Dallas Bowl

Date: Dec. 26

Time: 1 p.m.

Place: Cotton Bowl Stadium/Dallas

Affiliation: Big Ten vs. Conference USA

Most likely opponents: Rice, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, UTEP

Skinny: The least desirable option to the Rutgers fan, who is expecting better bowl destinations and opponents in the Big Ten than this fifth-year institution has to offer. Rutgers did the whole Conference USA thing in the 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl – three years after its lack of quality bowl options first became an issue when a 10-2 team went to the Texas Bowl to play 7-5 Kansas State. Rutgers, which was in Dallas to face SMU last year, has very little to gain here unless it somehow draws still-undefeated Marshall.

Independence Bowl

Date: Dec. 27

Time: 3:30 p.m.

Place: Independence Stadium/Shreveport, La.

Affiliation: SEC vs. ACC

Most likely opponents: Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, North Carolina State

Skinny: Most experts are picking this game as the spot that the SEC, which has 10 bowl tie-ins, does not fill. Again, it would pit Rutgers in some familiar matchups, including a potential game with Pittsburgh, which helped spoil the Scarlet Knights’ BCS hopes when the teams last met in 2012. Of greater historical significance, this is the bowl that Rutgers turned down at the end of its undefeated 1976 season, when it was ranked No. 17 by the Associated Press and could have faced McNeese State.

Big Ten Conference Bowl Tie-ins

College Football Playoff: Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Championship Bowl

Selection Committee Bowl Games: Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl

Citrus Bowl, Jan. 1, Orlando, Fla.: Big Ten vs. SEC

Outback Bowl, Jan. 1, Tampa, Fla: Big Ten vs. SEC

Holiday Bowl, Dec. 27, San Diego, Calif.: Big Ten vs. Pac-12

TaxSlayer Bowl, Jan. 2, Jacksonville, Fla.:ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC

Fight Hunter Bowl, Dec. 30, San Francisco, Calif: Big Ten vs. Pac-12

Pinstripe Bowl, Dec. 27, Bronx, N.Y.: Big Ten vs. ACC

Detroit Bowl, Dec. 26, Detroit, Mich.: Big Ten vs. ACC

Heart of Dallas Bowl, Dec. 26, Dallas, Tex: Big Ten vs. Conference USA

Staff Writer Ryan Dunleavy: rdunleav@gannett.com