Maryland to the big ten rumors

Submitted by ak47 on

So the maryland sports board I read has been chirping about talks between Maryland the big ten.  Anybody hear about any of these rumors from the big side?  Since minnesota isn't beating nebraska i figured I could ask.

ak47

November 17th, 2012 at 5:24 PM ^

I mean I don't like the move because of personal conflicts but the baltimore/dc metro market is the 4th largest in the country, and maryland is big enough there to help the subscription fees in the big ten and maybe add to the financial pie.  In addition maryland is third in the acc in basketball wins behind unc and duke so it is a good basketball school and would probably be the closest thing to a rival penn st has.  I don't like the move that much but md brings more to the table than a lot of other schools from a financial standpoint and improves basketball even more.

hail2mich

November 17th, 2012 at 5:25 PM ^

At least the Nebraska addition made sense. Very strong football tradition, good school, and they fit well within the conference geographically.

Maryland has no football tradition, they suck, and their fans are well-known for being asses. Rutgers is like Maryland, except has no fans. This would not make the conference any better, and make it more of a national laughingstock. 

Avant's Hands

November 17th, 2012 at 5:25 PM ^

I am in favor of this, but then I'm biased because my sister goes to Maryland. Football has taken a huge step back and yes they did just cut a bunch of varsity sports, which did not go over well there, but they are really good at some of the "other" sports. Their soccer teams, field hockey team, and women's basketball are all top notch. Basketball is also solid if not spectacular the last couple years. And it is a nice campus near the DC area. 

Rutgers, on the other hand...

UMRecruitingFannatic

November 17th, 2012 at 6:24 PM ^

"soccer teams, field hockey team, and women's basketball"

^^^^^ These are not the factors that determine conferences anymore.  Actually, I'm not sure if academics, quality of sports, or really anything the school itself produces would matter. 

HOW ARE THE TELEVISION RATINGS IMPACT / CAN WE ADD MARKETS / WHAT DOES THE B1G NETWORK GOD DESIRE?

superstringer

November 17th, 2012 at 5:31 PM ^

Wonder if it is relevant to the B1G that tons of UM and PSU fans live in DC area. lots of tSIO gear worn out here too the last few years. Md football stadium will be filled for some home games -- with opponents' fans.

lhglrkwg

November 17th, 2012 at 5:31 PM ^

they're trying to target is pro sports territory. No one around here gives two craps about Maryland or Rutgers sports. They're all behind the Yankees, Eagles, Ravens, Cowboys, Capitals, etc. Adding Maryland and Rutgers will give us nothing but two more bad football teams and two deadweights

teamgreg8

November 17th, 2012 at 5:34 PM ^

Just saw this news on a halftime show. I understand that conferences are scrambling and nobody wants to be left behind... but maryland and rutgers?? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KC Wolve

November 17th, 2012 at 5:34 PM ^

If all this is true, I wish they would have added Missouri when Nebraska came on. I can't get at all excited about MD or Rut. Just a money grab and a pathetic one at that.

ghost

November 17th, 2012 at 5:43 PM ^

This is about expanding the size of the big10 market.  It gets them into 2 large television markets.  They certainly bring more to the Big10 then Missouri brought to the SEC or Pitt to the ACC.  I suspect you will also see the Big12 beef up to at least 12 teams shortly (Louisville and maybe an ACC team).  This also hurts the ACC.  UCONN for Maryland is definitely a downgrade

08mms

November 17th, 2012 at 8:16 PM ^

While I think both schools athletics and academics would be solid, if not stellar, contributions, and am all for adding two more flagship public schools for their respective states, I'm really all in for this move as it sends a fuck you to ND.

phjhu89

November 17th, 2012 at 5:44 PM ^

For those of us who follow lax, Maryland and Rutgers would bring two more D1 lax programs, and in Maryland's case, an elite one.  That would make 5 B1G lax teams.

Not saying that this factoid makes it worth it, but it's something.

FreeKarl

November 17th, 2012 at 5:44 PM ^

I think Maryland will become a solid program in somewhere down the road. That being said, why offer them now? Do they really have any other conference suitors that could outbid the Big Ten in the foreseeable future? Rutgers will never be worthy of a B1G invitation. 

LSAClassOf2000

November 17th, 2012 at 5:57 PM ^

I am forced to wonder if Maryland  could even afford the move - there is the matter of the $50 million exit fee from the ACC, which they  did not want, and the fact that they have been a money-losing proposition - at least the athletic deparment has - for six years now. That's a lot of money that they do  not have, by all accounts. 

I suppose I get that Maryland is contiguous to the Big Ten footprint and mean an avenue into the DC market, but other than being in one of the better off and better run conferences in the nation (the Big Ten), is there a more compelling reason other than the hope that playing Wisconsin or Michigan or Ohio State in College Park generates more revenue than playing North Carolina or Clemson or Virginia Tech? They would have to be able to eat the exit fee, or challenge it (some people seem to think they would try to leave and then sue the ACC) and settle, I would think. 

That being said, it likely is about the money and football driving the train in college sports, if the rumor indeed has traction, but if Maryland thinks that what they are now is what their future is in the ACC, then I suppose I see why they would consider such a move. 

Still, Terrapin football, at least in its current iteration....blech. I suppose Illinois needs a friend though, because if Maryland did join, that would be a painful adjustment for them, I would think. 

 

ghost

November 17th, 2012 at 5:51 PM ^

Rutgers have been one of the best teams in the BIg East the last couple of years.  The last 3 years they've had either best or second best recruiting class in the Big East (excluding West Virginia)

Belisarius

November 17th, 2012 at 5:55 PM ^

Can't we at least get Virginia Tech? Good academic school (not, you know, UM or NW good, but equal to a lot of the schools in the conference), some actual FB potential and history, bigger name, and still gives you access to the VV/DC markets and recruiting.

Ruthers is more up and coming then people think, FWIW. They got a lot of coaches from Pitt when Pitt fired Wnnestedt, and they recruited NJ better than anyone- that's what's helped Rutgers recruit so well the last few classes. For the first time, they're acvtually getting local talent to stay home. But still...



I mean, I don;t want to expand, but if we have to, can't we do better?

ak47

November 17th, 2012 at 6:01 PM ^

umm va tech is not a good academic school, is not in the aau and has never won a national championship in anything ever and who knows what will happen to football when beamer moves on.  Also i'm not sure that vt really gaurantees the dc market.  I honestly believe md is a better add than vt or missouri or duke which some people keep mentioning for no reason, rutgers I don't get because its already established they don't bring the nyc tv market.

Belisarius

November 17th, 2012 at 6:16 PM ^

VT is a tier 1 school which consistently ranks as good as or better than MSU, Iowa, Indiana and the lower half of the conference, certainly better than Nebrasksa. Not AAU, granted, but neither is ND. VTech has better exposure and poularity and a larger fanbase than MD. It may not get yud DC, bit nobody in DC cares about Maryland anyway. And while I can't tell you how good VTech will be without Beamer, at least they have some tradition with the sport. Maryland has none. And they won't be getting any better with Edsall

FreeKarl

November 17th, 2012 at 7:13 PM ^

ND is not in the AAU because it is an insitution focused primarily on undergraduate education. VaTech isn't in the AAU because it simply is not that good of a school. Maryland will get better with Edsall, they literally are on their 4th string QB( Remember how well Michigan played with our option number 2 in the Nebraska game?). Maryland will likely improve as they start to keep more and more of increasing amount of elite DC area talent at home.

Belisarius

November 17th, 2012 at 7:30 PM ^

I really don't see the point in arguing with a person who thinks Maryland will improve with Edsall. He wasn't even  dominant coach in the liittle pool which was the Big East, the way Kelly or RichRod were. Nor is he going to convince local talent to hitch their wagons to his star, after his stunning debut.

I guess reasonable people can disagree, but whatever. Edsall is a terrible coach, and Maryland is at least one coaching change away (that they can't afford) from even being pointed in the right direction

FreeKarl

November 17th, 2012 at 8:04 PM ^

He's such a terrible coach that he took a program from FCS football to being competitive in an AQ conference(blah blah the Big East sucks we get it) in a location with almost no football talent. He also convinced 5 star WR Stefon Diggs and 4 star RB Wes Brown to "hitch their wagons" to him after his 2-10 debut. To say that he is a terrible coach because he went 2-10 after a transition that was even more controversial than the RR coming to Michigan and that Maryland when there wasn't much talent on the team(Danny O'Brien was arguably the most heralded player) is asinine. 

Belisarius

November 17th, 2012 at 8:21 PM ^

His claim to fame is that he won the conference championship, once, in the worst BCS conference in a down year, where it was literally up for grabs. That same year, he lost to other middling Big East teams, and was crushed in any meaningful non-conference game, including to a mediocre Michigan team that went an unimpressive 7-5.

Kelly amkes sense: He took Cinci to back-to back championships, and won 12-0 seasons. RichRod made sense: he was one rivalry game loss away from playing in a national championship.

All your saying about Edsall is he pushed a junker team through a junker conference for a meaningless championship, an an accomplishment that meant so much to him he abandoned his team the NIGHT they were crused in te Fiesta Bowl. Oh, and Brown and Diggs decided to stay home. And from that you infer he's some kind of quality coach?

Well, I'm not taking your word for it- I'll take the word of the fans who aren't showing up to his games.

FreeKarl

November 17th, 2012 at 9:07 PM ^

1 Using your logic Brady Hoke was not a good coach prior coming to Michigan because his claim to fame was winning a MAC division championship. If you want to continue to ignore the context of his success at UCONN(was literally a FCS school when he took over) you can, but then Hoke's relative success at SDSU and BSU was not impressive either. Also you are incorrect in stating that Edsall won the Big East only once. 

2 My point about Brown and Diggs was a response to you claiming that he would never convince quality local players to stay home after his first season, not a basis of support for him being a good coach.

3 Further evidence of Edsall being a competant coach and UCONN being a really crappy job. Edsall was 74-70(22-26) at UCONN. His successor, Pasqualoni, who although I'd say isn't a tremendous coach currently, literally has the most wins in Big East history and has a 9-13(4-8) record at UConn. 

 

Wolverine Devotee

November 17th, 2012 at 6:06 PM ^

If this happens, I'd like it. Like seeing Michigan play in new places and play new teams.

Divisions?

East

West

Illinois

Indiana

Maryland

Iowa

Michigan

Michigan State

Northwestern

Minnesota

Ohio

Nebraska

Penn State

Purdue

Rutgers

Wisconsin

 

Avant's Hands

November 17th, 2012 at 6:11 PM ^

I would switch the Indiana schools for the Illinois schools to keep the geography right, but otherwise it makes sense. Although barring a 9 game conference schedule it would mean only playing 1-2 games against the traditional Big Ten schools not in Ohio or Indiana. Also no way we could play for the Jug and Paul Bunyun every year.

Sambojangles

November 17th, 2012 at 6:56 PM ^

Sorry, but this won't happen. Nebraska did not join the conference to play Indiana, MSU, and Purdue. They want (really, need) to play at least 2 of M, OSU, and PSU every year. If Rutgers and Maryland being added to the conference really does happen, expect another random Legends/Leaders kind of setup. In fact, they should really just add Maryland to the Legends to keep it M's, N's, and Iowa.

rederik

November 17th, 2012 at 6:07 PM ^

AWFUL idea! The Big Ten doesn't need more basketball talent and Big East football is a joke. Let's hope television opportunities and lacrosse aren't enough reason for Delany to muddy the conference I/we hold dear.