NEW BRUNSWICK – This was the $177 million question for Keli Zinn, who was introduced Wednesday as the new Rutgers Athletic Director: Can the athletics department, with its large operating budget, for once become profitable or at least self-sustaining?

It’s been a question long pondered by New Jersey taxpayers, who have been waiting since 2009 for the football team to beat a ranked opponent and wondering how many 5-star recruits it takes the men’s basketball team to make a run in the NCAA Tournament. Even before all that, really.

Realize that 3% of the university’s $5.9 billion budget goes to support more than 700 student-athletes among its 24 athletic teams across the New Brunswick and Newark campuses competing at the NCAA Division I level, and that 20% of that $5.9 billion ($1.18 billio

See Full Page