Rutgers has won 1 NCAA national championships : Below are 3 national team titles that were not bestowed by the NCAA : Rutgers University 's seventeenth president , Edward J. Bloustein ( 1925 – 1989 ) envisioned a drive for success at Rutgers that involved participation in " bigger-time " athletics . Several of the nation 's colleges became associated with Division I-AA ( now FCS ) when that designation was established in the late 1970s , including many of Rutgers ' historic rivals like Princeton , Columbia , Lehigh and Lafayette College . Bloustein decided that Rutgers ought to pursue developments that would place the university on par with comparable state universities both academically and athletically . This led to Rutgers opting for inclusion among Division I , and later , under president Francis L. Lawrence , to join the Big East Conference in 1991
Big East Conference
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Rutgers Scarlet Knights