Rutgers was gifted a chance to play in the postseason, but it has turned down the opportunity.The Scarlet Knights declined an invitation to the Birmingham Bowl, where it would face Georgia Southern, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to NJ Advance Media. The news was first reported by On3’s Brett McMurphy.SUBSCRIBE TO THE RUTGERS RANT ON YOUTUBE: Watch our weekly podcast, live postgame reactions and moreRutgers (5-7, 2-7) did not qualify for a bowl game the traditional way after suffering a heartbreaking loss to Penn State in their do-or-die regular season finale, but chaos opened the door for them. Multiple teams declined bowl bids on Sunday, including Notre Dame, Kansas State, Iowa State, Auburn and Florida State, forcing bowl organizers to dip into the pool of teams with a 5-7 record with the best multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores. Enough teams turned down an opportunity that the Scarlet Knights were given a chance to continue their season.Head coach Greg Schiano and his program, which already got its offseason underway, ultimately declined. The Scarlet Knights fired multiple defensive coaches (co-defensive coordinators Robb Smith and Zach Sparber, defensive line coach Colin Ferrell) this week and multiple players already declared their intention to enter the transfer portal when it opens next month.It was a similar situation to the 2021 season, when the Scarlet Knights earned a spot in the Gator Bowl after Texas A&M opted out of the game due to coronavirus complications. But this time, Rutgers chose not to continue its season.Read the original article on NJ.com. Add NJ.com as a Preferred Source by clicking here.