PISCATAWAY, N.J. — 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 athletics director Tim Perenetti.

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

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.

Rutgers also plans to join its new conference in 2014, though the Big East requires 27 months’ notification for departing members. The Scarlet Knights will have to negotiate a deal with the Big East to leave early.

In the Big Ten, the revenue Rutgers receives from the league’s television and media deals should quadruple in the short term and could be even more than that in years to come.

Tech expects RB to return

Paul Johnson said he expects leading rusher Orwin Smith to be ready for Georgia Tech’s game at No. 3 Georgia on Saturday.

Smith left last week’s 42-24 win over Duke with a sprained right ankle. He did not practice on Tuesday.

Bowl getting new home

The Fight Hunger Bowl will move from San Francisco to the 49ers’ new stadium in Santa Clara once the venue is completed in 2014. Construction on the $1 billion state-of-the-art stadium is more than 20 percent complete.