An article placed at cbs sports an hour ago says Maryland will vote as early as tomorrow on their invitation to join the Big Ten. Says that university's biggest donor backs the move. Hard to imagine that this is not a twofer deal, with Rutgers right behind.
The article notes that the $50 million exit fee might be a stumbling block for Maryland. But from what I've read elsewhere the league may take all or part out of future revenue to the school.
Perhaps it's been noted elsewhere, but this gives the Big Ten access to 35% of the nation's viewers, bringing in the DC and NY areas, and extends the league across a fairly contiguous--that is, plausible--swath of the country, from Nebraska to the Atlantic coast. I realize that Rutgers and Maryland aren't the most appetizing draws in an immediate sense, but I like having the league entering NY and DC, taking in part of the South now, too. (And there's no reason why those schools cannot get better, including in football.) Obviously, the expanded TV revenue is the big draw for the league itself. Will be interesting to see if the league uses the pretext of expansion to reconfigure the divisions, which are pretty unpopular, at least here.
Link:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/21...
Big Ten East
Big Ten West
This split would create an imbalance methinks, with Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State in one division.
Alternatively,
Big Ten North
Big Ten South
Not sure if that's any more balanced or not, and does pose the (same current) problem of Michigan and OSU in separate divisions.
HAIL.