Maryland to big ten official

Submitted by ak47 on

Don't have a non-insider link but according to sources in MD the UMD board of regents voted today to join the big ten.  On the bright side of all of this maybe they will rename the divisions, so that might be something.  Here is the link if you are interested http://maryland.247sports.com/Article/Source-Maryland-to-the-Big-10-102…

Update: Brett Mcmurphy reporting vote to join as well and tomvh retweeted it so that counts as official for me.

Also for people hating on MD, besides bringing the baltimore/dc metro market which is the 4th largest in the country, it also brings aau membership, the third most wins in acc basketball behind only unc and duke, elite lacrosse and soccer teams on both the mens and womens side, access to the best basketball recruitng hotbed in the country, a football team that has been to the bcs more than michigan state (I just thought that was funny) and other benefits.  While its football program probably tops out at mediocare so does most of the big ten, and honestly most bcs football schools in general, I'm not happy about the move for personal reason but if the big ten wants to keep expanding there aren't really a lot of better viable options than Maryland.

Needs

November 19th, 2012 at 11:06 AM ^

I doubt Delany would be doing this unless he had a good feel that cable companies in the footprint would put BTN on basic cable. If there's one thing he's shown, it's an understanding of how those companies operate and the ability to successfully negotiate with them.

I think the New York market is still a question, mainly because Cablevision is somewhat of a lone operator, but I think all the other companies that serve the new footprint are companies that the Big 10 has dealt with in expanding the network throughout the footprint.

ak47

November 19th, 2012 at 10:36 AM ^

well it pretty much was but i had no verifiable link so i wanted to qualify it, also im studying for a french test.  looks like major news outlets have picked up on it so if i knew how to change the title i would make it official

reshp1

November 19th, 2012 at 10:36 AM ^

Ugh, more body bag teams in a conference with already a weak reputation. Think they'll expand to 9 conference games? It would kinda blows to lose flexibility for a good OOC matchup, but then again we always have a cupcake game anyway. 

lilpenny1316

November 19th, 2012 at 10:39 AM ^

Does this mean OSU gets a free ride to the B1G title game every year?  If the divisions are split geographically, that means OSU could play Penn St, Maryland and Rutgers every year and have their division wrapped up before November.  

BlueCE

November 19th, 2012 at 10:42 AM ^

So disappointed on so many levels. These teams do not add new markets. No one cares about them in their region. They are average academically or the B10, below average in sports, no tradition. It will not help with recruiting. However thy decide to realign the divisions we are now unlikely to play a traditional rival like Wisco but every 6 years. Horrible uniforms (Maryland). a fan base that does not care (Rutgers). This is just bad on every level. Other ACC teams are happy with this move. This moe brings down the cache and quality of the conference rather than increase it when we brought in Nebraska. Te identity of the schools do not fit in with the conference. I am just sad.

MGoKereton

November 19th, 2012 at 10:45 AM ^

Well if the dream I had last night is any indication, the divisions will stay the same.  Maryland goes into the Legends divisions to keep the "Ms, Ns, and Iowa" thing going, and Rutgers goes into the "Hey, half our teams wears red" division".  Also, the Big Ten makes a reach and adds OHIO to the Big Ten because Northwestern apparently hates Delany and Delany sent them to the MAC

Medic

November 19th, 2012 at 10:42 AM ^

Written all over it. Can anyone tell me how this upgrades the conference? I'm not just talking about Football. When was the last time Maryland basketball was nationally relevant? Or Any of their other sports for that matter.....

Do NOT want. This move makes absolutely no sense to me.

lilpenny1316

November 19th, 2012 at 11:16 AM ^

That NC title is more recent than the B1G's last title.  Plus their women's hoops team is very solid.  But since this is a football move, I can't fully understand the logic.  This still makes us a laughing stock comes bowl season.  Who cares if we guarantee a team for the Pizza Bowl every year?

Expatriate Duck

November 19th, 2012 at 10:45 AM ^

This just feels like change for the sake of change... and obviously a way to increase BTN subscription by forcing it on to basic cable in the Mid-Atlantic / NYC area / Northeast. With News Corp. looking to buy the Yes Network and being partners in the BTN, they can demand that NYC cable companies add the BTN to their basic package or risk losing out on YES.

Vasav

November 19th, 2012 at 11:46 AM ^

It's crazy if that's the reason this move is being made. It's sort of like planting an idea into someone's dream within a dream within a dream to repair their relationship with their father to break up their monopoly on the energy industry. In the end, you're doing something crazy with very direct effects to yourself in the off chance that billionaires might possibly move millions of dollars that don't really matter to them.

And in the end you're left wondering, is this still a dream?

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

blacknblue

November 19th, 2012 at 10:45 AM ^

I hope this at least leads to 9 game conference schedules. Of course the only way a 14 team league really makes sense is if you have 13 game conference schedules.

maizenbluedevil

November 19th, 2012 at 10:48 AM ^

When did this all start?

I didn't pay any attention to any football on Saturday after the Michigan game, and then came on the board Sunday and there was talk about Maryland joining the B1G as if the process had started a few days prior.  What was the timeline on this?  For something so major it just seems like it happened really, really quickly.

93Grad

November 19th, 2012 at 10:52 AM ^

This is just so horrible in every way. I dont want any more expansion but if we had to do it I'd much rather have had Missouri or Pitt join. This just makes no athletic sense whatsoever. Fucking terrible. Death to Delany

ak47

November 19th, 2012 at 11:09 AM ^

ej henderson, darius heyward-bey and torrey smith were first round draft picks back to back, jared gaither was a first round draft pick but is a lazy fuck, stefon diggs looks like an nfl.  I mean obviously its not a top producer of talent but md has had a top 10 pick more recently than michigan has (and i'm hoping that doesn't change this year since I want Lewan back)