Rutgers men’s soccer has laid out its 2026 fall slate, and the schedule is built around a heavy home presence at RWJ Barnabas Stadium at Yurcak Field. The Scarlet Knights will play 16 matches overall, with nine coming in Piscataway.
The season opens with a two-game trip in the Washington, D.C. area. Rutgers starts at American on Thursday, Aug. 20, then heads to Georgetown on Sunday, Aug. 23.
After that, the Scarlet Knights settle in for a five-match homestand. Sacred Heart comes to town on Friday, Aug. 28, followed by Seton Hall on Sept.
4, UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 7, UCLA on Sept. 11 in Rutgers’ Big Ten opener, and Princeton on Sept. 15 to close out the nonconference portion of the schedule.
Conference play ramps up again with back-to-back road dates, beginning at Ohio State on Friday, Sept. 18.
Rutgers then visits defending national champion Washington a week later on Friday, Sept. 25.
The schedule swings back to Piscataway for a pair of home league matches, with Northwestern on Friday, Oct. 2 and Maryland on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
Rutgers closes the season with a five-game stretch that alternates between road and home. The run starts at Wisconsin on Oct. 10, then returns “On The Banks” for Indiana on Oct.
- From there, the Scarlet Knights go to Penn State on Oct. 20, host Michigan on Oct. 23 and finish at Michigan State on Oct.
More details on promotions, TV designations and match times for the 2026 fall season will be announced later.
In Other News...
PFF Just Put KJ Duff Among College Footballs Elite Again
KJ Duff keeps showing up on the kind of lists that usually reserve space for the sports most established playmakers. Pro Football Focus placed the Rutgers wide receiver at No. 27 heading into the next season, a nod to the breakout year that made him one of the Big Tens most dangerous targets and Rutgers first 1,000-yard receiver since Leonte Carroo in 2014.
Duffs value goes beyond the box score, too, with his contested-catch ability giving the Scarlet Knights a reliable answer when plays break down. The bigger question now is who will be throwing him the ball, because Rutgers is still sorting out its quarterback competition and the winner will inherit a clear No. 1 target with preseason All-American buzz already attached. [Read more 🡒]
Steve Pikiell Sees A Different Rutgers Backcourt Taking Shape
Rutgers is heading into the season with a backcourt that looks a lot more established than it did a year ago, and Steve Pikiell is leaning into that shift. Lino Mark, Tariq Francis and Kaden Powers are all back, giving the Scarlet Knights a trio of guards who have already logged meaningful Big Ten minutes and, in Pikiells view, grown into the kind of players the program can build around. Marks development as a more polished, sturdier option, Francis scoring punch and Powers expanded role all point to a group that should feel less like a work in progress and more like a real foundation.
There is still some roster business left to sort out, though, and that keeps the full picture from coming into focus just yet. Rutgers is still waiting on the status of guard Luis Duarte, while the staff also wants to add two more frontcourt players before the offseason is over. So even as the backcourt takes shape, the final version of this team still depends on how the rest of the roster fills in around it. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Golf Just Got Another Huge Chris Gotterup Moment
Chris Gotterup keeps giving Rutgers golf another reason to brag, and this latest one came at the John Deere Classic. The former Scarlet Knight closed with a bogey-free 9-under 62 at TPC Deere Run, finishing at 20-under par and adding another PGA TOUR title to a rsum that keeps growing fast.
For Rutgers fans, the appeal goes beyond one hot week. Gotterup left New Brunswick as one of the most decorated players in program history, and this win only sharpens the sense that his game still has room to climb. The John Deere also carries extra meaning in his pro story, which makes this latest breakthrough feel less like a surprise and more like another checkpoint in a career that is starting to stack up big moments. [Read more 🡒]