Editor's note: Brian Edwards has tonight's Army-Rutgers game for a two-game parlay in his pick pack. If you're only interested in the side, check out Brian's pay-if-it-wins-only selection!

Regardless of what happens during the rest of Greg Schiano’s tenure at Rutgers, the school should name the stadium after him. Not only that, but his image should appear all over campus, preferably in a scene in which he’s choppin’ wood.

That’s been Schiano’s slogan for the program since he took over in 2001. He returned to his home state of New Jersey with the goal of “winning a national championship.” At the time, such a notion would’ve registered a 10 on the Ridiculous Scale with 10 clearly representing unfathomable delusions of grandeur.

Still to this day, the thought is probably in the 8-9 range, but it is no longer a laughable suggestion. And that’s all because of Schiano, who has made the Scarlet Knights relevant both now and in the future.

Let’s consider the situation he inherited. During his first year in 2001, RU lost to Buffalo by 16 points. Then in Weeks 2 and 3, the Scarlet Knights were pounded by Miami and Virginia Tech, respectively, by scores of 61-0 and 50-0. Later in the season, they lost 80-7 at West Virginia and took another bagel at home to Pitt (42-0).

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In 2002, Rutgers lost its opener to Villanova at home, 37-19. One week later, Buffalo came to town and won 34-11. And remember, this was before Turner Gill began running the show for the Bulls.

In 2003, however, bettors had to take notice of gradual improvement. For our purposes, actually, the improvement was radical. In fact, RU covered the number in its first eight games and finished the season with a 10-1-1 ATS mark.

Finally in 2005, Schiano led Rutgers to its first bowl game since a 1978 appearance in the now-defunct Garden State Bowl. RU has now gone bowling four straight years and has emerged victorious in its last three postseason berths.

Coming into 2009, some pundits considered the Scarlet Knights as the favorites to win the Big East. That belief has been tempered by a pair of home losses in conference play to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

With one last non-conference contest on deck tonight at Army, Schiano might normally be concerned about a lack of focus. However, the bright lights of the World Wide Leader will probably alleviate those concerns for the ninth-year coach.

Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened Rutgers (4-2 straight up, 1-3 against the spread) as a 10-point favorite with a total of 39. As of early this afternoon, most books had RU favored by 10 1/2 with the total at 39 after it spent most of Thursday at 40. Gamblers can take the Black Knights to win outright for a plus-300 return (risk $100 to win $300).

Army (3-4 SU, 2-5 ATS) is gunning for its first winning season since 1996. The Black Knights haven’t won more than four games since that year, a feat they can match with their next victory.

Coming off a surprising 16-13 win over Vandy in overtime as a 10 ½-point home underdog, Army couldn’t follow it up in another double-digit ‘dog spot. The Black Knights went to Philadelphia and dropped a 27-13 decision at Temple last week, failing to hook up their backers as 10 ½-point ‘dogs.

Army’s option offense is led by freshman quarterback Trent Steelman, who has a team-high 407 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The Black Knights don’t throw it much, but Steelman is completing 51 percent of his passes with a 2/1 touchdown-interception ratio.

Rutgers is also led by a true freshman QB in Tom Savage, one of the most decorated recruits in school history. Savage has connected on 57 percent of his passes for 941 yards with a 5/1 TD-INT ratio.

In last Friday’s 24-17 loss to Pitt as a 6 ½-point home underdog, Savage completed 23-of-39 passes for 248 yards with one TD and one pick. Senior WR Tim Brown had seven receptions for 96 yards, but the Scarlet Knights were undone by Pitt’s freshman RB Dion Lewis, who had 180 yards on the ground and a pair of TD scampers.

The loss to Pitt snapped a four-game winning streak against the Panthers, not to mention RU’s four-game winning streak since getting smoked by Cincy in the season’s lid-lifter on Labor Day.

RU has only gone on the road once this season, capturing a 34-13 victory at Maryland as a one-point underdog.

Rich Ellerson’s squad is 2-2 SU at home, 1-3 versus the number. Army beat Ball St. by a 24-17 count, but it has lost to Duke (35-19) and Tulane (17-16). In the loss to the Green Wave, Alex Carlton missed a 37-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining. Carlton made amends the following week, though, nailing a 42-yarder to beat Vandy.

Since 2005, Army has an abysmal 3-10 spread record in 13 games as a home underdog. During Schiano’s tenure, Rutgers is 4-6 ATS in 10 games as a road favorite.

The ‘under’ is 5-2 overall for Army, 3-1 in its home games. The ‘under’ is 3-1 overall for RU, 1-0 in its lone road assignment.

ESPN2 will have tonight’s telecast at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**

--Army has lost 10 in a row against Big East schools.

--According to an LVSC alert sent out Friday afternoon, Cincy QB Tony Pike has been downgraded to "doubtful" for Saturday's home game against Louisville. The Bearcats had been 18-point favorites for most of the week, but they are now favored by 16. Back in August, I predicted a Cincy blowout win over the 'Ville would lead to Steve Kragthorpe's pink slip with the open date looming for the Cardinals. I stand by my prediction and still think Phillip Fulmer will be the next coach at Louisville.

--I have to give major kudos to ESPN’s Chris McKendry. She was ruthless in a live SportsCenter interview with Isiah Thomas the day he was introduced as the new head basketball coach at Florida International. That’s when I realized she was outstanding at conducting the “tough interviews.” She was a little easier on Bobby Bowden on Thursday, but not by much. She came strong with the tough questions and you could tell Bowden’s emotions were stirred – not necessarily at her, but at his own situation which was remedied by last night’s 30-27 comeback win at North Carolina.

--During last night’s edition of the Power Hours on VI Radio, I chronicled Florida’s recent woes in Starkville. Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun describes the miserable 2004 game that changed the course of UF football history in this article.

Brian Edwards can be reached at briane@vegasinsider.com.

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