Not saying they were the greatest conference, but WVU had RichRod, Rutgers had Schiano, Cincinnati had Brian Kelly, South Florida had Jim Leavitt and Louisville had Petrino. Those were some pretty decent teams during that stint. Petrino and Leavitt were far from class acts, but they had their teams winning in impressive fashion at times.

Meanwhile, Miami was starting to suck wind, but BC was getting better in the ACC. Some of the worse teams during that BEFC timeframe were Syracuse and Pitt... and the ACC welcomed them with open arms not too much later.

Had Schiano followed the Frank Beamer mold and stayed at his alma mater for a longer period, there is no telling where Rutgers would be today. All it would take for Rutgers to be on par with someone like UNC, GT or Pitt is a decent coach who cared to stay long enough to see that program through.

But to your point... Schiano didn't stay, so maybe Rutgers will never achieve mediocre football status for a long time. But being in the B1G could make Rutgers a "stepping stone" program for those competitive coaches that want to make a name for themselves in the hope of a few upsets, before moving on to greener pastures.