RALPH D. RUSSO,AP College Football Writer

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Rutgers is joining the Big Ten, leaving the Big East behind and cashing in on the school’s investment in a football program that only 10 years ago seemed incapable of competing at the highest level.

The school announced its decision Tuesday at a campus news conference attended by Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany, Rutgers President Robert Barchi and athletic director Tim Perenetti.

Barchi said the Big Ten is “really where Rutgers belongs.”

Rutgers has been competing in the Big East since 1991. But the league has been picked apart by conference realignment, and the Scarlet Knights were looking for a way out.

The move follows Maryland’s announcement Monday that it was joining the Big Ten in 2014.

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