Maryland to Big Ten

The only good I hope that comes from this is that the Big Ten realigns their idiotic divisions accordingly.

East-ish Division: Maryland, Rutgers, Penn State, Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern (or Wisconsin if they want to balance out some of the football powers).
Sort of West-ish Division: Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Wisconsin (or Northwestern if Badgers go East), Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska.

Lose the fucking Legends and Leaders too. Rename them TV Markets and Per-Subscriber Fee Divisions.

 

Legalized extortion.

 

Wow. That's almost SEC-like in its elitism. "Listen, they struggle now in that garage league but they'll do much better here because....well, we're the Fat 10!" I guess that's why Indiana, Purdue and Illinois have the finest in-state beating their doors down. Face it, its the team and not the conference. The finest in New Jersey and Murruhlind are going to want to still play for the best college program that wants them, regardless of conference affiliation. And "non-entity" Rutgers is in the top 25 currently.

 

Extortion? How do you get that?

 

What the BTN does with cable providers is legalized extortion. Period.

 

No one is forcing cable companies to add it. Dish doesn't have YES, MSG, or SNY.

 

I can see Maryland being attractive for delivering the Baltimore/DC TV market, but as someone else pointed out, the number of people in Newark/NYC who care about Rutgers athletics is pretty small.

 

Big Ten's thrilled to crack the eastern market. Lot of old grads now East-based will be pleased to have easier access to conference road games.


Too unbalanced. Comparatively (and historically speaking), that East is cushy shit.

 

Complete bullshit. Nobody's forcing them to buy the product.

 

Nate Silver back at it with a new bog entry.
‏@fivethirtyeight, We estimate that Maryland will have the smallest football fan base in the Big 10. Good academics, at least.

And, per ESPN's Brett McMurphy, Illinois will shift divisions.
‏@McMurphyESPN, Maryland prez tells regents MD, RU in Leaders Division w/OSU, PSU, Wisconsin, Purdue & Indiana. Illinois moves to Legends

 

Ding, ding, ding. See also: John Swofford's expansion handbook. It giveth and it taketh away.

 

All I can say is wait and see. Of course, when this proves to be correct, you know nobody will remember what you're saying here.

And yes, Rutgers, in the top 25, remains a "non-entity." Because they're in the Big East.