Loss is doubly costly for RU

AN HBO “Real Sports” segment, last year, focused on two universities, Eastern Michigan and Rutgers, as having sold their academic souls to big-time football that neither school, their student bodies and taxpayer-funding could afford.

HBO reported that while some EMU students were forced to choose between food and tuition, the football team spent a relative fortune by staying in a hotel — before home games. Hey, same with Rutgers’ football team!

Having typically played home games before fewer than 5,000, EMU in 2015 went 1-11. So who better for Rutgers to schedule for Saturday’s non-conference home game than EMU?

EMU desperately needed the reported $860,000 appearance money; RU desperately needed a patsy to crush. “Bowl eligibility” is now predicated on such wins. And if season-ticket buyers are stuck paying for such non-competitive games, tough. They want an invite to the Sign-Here Reverse Mortgage Bowl or not?

But Saturday, EMU didn’t cooperate. It beat Rutgers, 16-13, thus Rutgers lost the game and the money. But at least ticket buyers had a chance to see a competitive game.

RU, its sports teams once known as Big Red, is now known as Big Red for the size and color of the ink invested in Big Ten football. And unless RU turns its expanded 53,000-seat stadium into a park-and-ride, there’s no turning back.