Big Ten Network is a winner. Rutgers and Maryland are winners with this deal, financially. On the football field, they have relegated themselves the new Indiana.

Everyone else loses.

I certainly agree with you that anything beyond 16 becomes very unweildy and I don’t want to see that happen.

But I think 20 might be perceived as an ok number because you can still have four divisions of 5 teams. That allows you to play 4 in-division games every season. Then you play 5 out-of-division games splitting them on a one-two-two basis among the other three divisions. And within a three stretch every team plays every other team at least once.

However, I join you in hoping that cooler heads prevail and no one goes beyond 16. And if that is the way it goes down, BIG10 will not get UVA, UNC, and ND as you point out. I think there is a slim chance UNC goes to the SEC.

Soon Delaney will realize he only got about 2/5 of the DC Market (the Virginia side could care less about Maryland) and unless Rutgers is very successful in the Big Ten, people in NJ will still be watching teams like Alabama, Oregon, and Notre Dame. The revenue projections are completely absurd, as industry execs continue to point out and he faces a huge uphill battle in the next round of negotiations (see DirecTv vs Pac 12 Network) due to more and more cable subscribers deciding they don’t need to pay for tv and putting downward pressure on rights fees.

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@hor2012

Allow me to expound upon your statement, which is right on the money by the way. This quote is from coach K:

‘Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, one of the most powerful men in college sports, says he believes the ACC might be in imminent danger. He told Sports Illustrated on Monday that his league is “vulnerable right now, I’m concerned about our conference.”

Krzyzewski also said he believed there “could still be some movement in our conference.” The Terrapins and Scarlet Knights are expected to join the Big Ten in 2014. Which school might leave next?’

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8654194/college-football-conference-expansion-likely-end-maryland-big-ten

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I actually agree with you normtide, but would add that they did what they did was inevitable.

At some point the SEC or BIG12 was going to do the exact same thing. The ACC was in a permanent revenue disadvantage and couldn’t hold off the poachers forever.

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@jimbo75025

You are absolutely correct that both the BIG10 and SEC are up against the limit of 16. Hard choices are going to be made soon by both conferences, and the wheels are spinning.

Slive has stated that the SEC would not be limited to 16 if it was in the conference’s interest to expand beyond that number. I promise you Delaney is thinking the exact same thing.

Would they prefer to stop at 16? Absolutely, but if the BIG10 gets UVA and UNC, there is no way they turn away ND. They will make room for the Irish any way possible, including expanding to 20 if need be.

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@normtide

No sir, it is really happening. Just yesterday coach K said on Sirius something to the effect of “We need to get everyone is a room and figure out who’s staying and who’s going.”

Taking place as we speak is a mass exodus of ACC football schools, and a mass entrance of former Big East basketball schools. The ACC is melting down.

Or, maybe that’s all speculation, hell, idk.

As a college football fan and (SEC alum) I look forward sincerely to Rutgers, Maryland, and Penn State developing into rivals. (PSU vs RU or vs Maryland over thanksgiving weekend? Better than PSU vs Michigan State.)

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@sssjim7

The BIG10′s revenue model is based on having the Big Ten Network (BTN). By getting UMd and Rutgers, they will end up with millions upon millions more subscribers. If each subscriber pays $1 per month for the BTN, well, you can see how much money will be generated.

Adding those two was an excellent move. I applaud Delaney for his vision and leadership.

The poor ACC is about to become extinct.

By grabbing Rutgers, they tap into the NY/NJ market and get an up and coming program.

By grabbing Maryland, they tap into the Baltimore/DC market, and more importantly kick over the first of many ACC dominos to fall.

By destabilizing the ACC (who will lose at least 6 more teams), Notre Dame will now need to locate a new conference. They have been the prize the BIG10 is seeking in all this.

The good news for the BIG10 is that even if ND lands somewhere else, they still will most likely land UVA and UNC. Having those two along with Rutgers and UMd will position the BIG10 as the top conference for years and years to come.

Hopefully Maryland will hire a good accountant to tell them to not spend more money than they make….

but then again… how far are they from DC????

We will miss Maryland in the ACC… I remember watching many Clemson/Maryland games in the 80′s… nearly always for the ACC championship. Maryland was very good back then.

We live in interesting times…
~Jim

Life is good when you’re irrelevant.