The rivalry was set for renewal long before Temple was invited back to the Big East Conference.
But now that both teams are once again in the same conference, the Temple-Rutgers clash should go beyond a common border war.
"Obviously, we recruit against each other," Temple coach Steve Addazio said of the programs. Rutgers "is 66 miles away from Temple. It's in a bordering state [New Jersey]. So I think that absolutely is a natural rivalry."
And it's one of the regional rivalries the Big East plans to protect and promote. The teams will meet annually no matter how the league's yet-to-be-determined divisions are aligned.
One proposal would be to split the league into East and West divisions beginning in 2013. Another called for North and South divisions. And the third would have a non-geographic alignment, splitting the West Coast schools, the Texas schools, and the Florida schools.
"In the Big East - the new Big East - there are a couple of schools that geography-wise make a lot of sense for Rutgers to play," Scarlet Knights first-year coach Kyle Flood said. "Schools like Connecticut. Schools like Temple. I think it is in the best interest of college football when you have opportunities to create those games and you create them."
The plan to bring back the rivalry that concluded in 2004 had been in the works for some time. On Aug. 9, 2010, the schools announced a four-game series agreement, beginning at Rutgers Stadium in 2015. But after the Big East's March announcement that Temple was returningto the Big East, the quickly assembled Owls' Big East schedule for 2012 included an Oct. 20 game against Rutgers at Lincoln Financial Field.
The teams are expected to be much more competitive than their last meeting on Oct. 16, 2004, an unimpressive display that saw Rutgers win 16-6. The Owls were in the midst of their final Big East season, after being kicked out for not meeting several conference standards. They rarely won games, were a poor draw, and had awful facilities.
One of the few things Temple could do back then was beat Rutgers. The Owls won five of the six meetings from 1997 to 2002.
Now Temple is coming off its best three-year run in school history, and Rutgers has averaged eight wins over the last seven seasons.
Despite both schools' recent success, the Scarlet Knights have had a higher profile, largely because Rutgers played in a Bowl Championship Series conference while Temple played in the less-heralded and non-BCS Mid-American Conference.
In most cases, Rutgers won the recruiting battles over Temple for top talent, especially in New Jersey. But there are signs that Temple is becoming competitive in that area.
The Owls beat out Rutgers for commitments from 2013 recruits in Williamstown linebacker Buddy Brown and Elizabeth quarterback P.J. Walker. And as of Friday, five of Temple's eight commitments for the Class of 2013 were from New Jersey.
"I'm sure Coach Addazio is going to do a great job recruiting," Flood said last month about how Temple's addition to the Big East would impact recruiting. "But I don't know that any one school is ever the reason why you do or don't get a particular player."
