The Lions' Pride

Maryland needs money.

Desperation by the Big Ten I mean. We really need another school that takes more out of the pot than it contributes?

I doubt that is the case.

I'm gonna have to disagree, I've been reading that adding Maryland and Rutgers could mean up to $200 million more for the BTN alone, not including the new deal they will sign with another network. It expands recruiting in states that have large populations, and for PSU it adds 2 relatively weak opponents and teams that PSU has alittle history with right in their backyard. JoePa wanted the B1G to expand in the east and he finally got his wish. I think he would be happy with the move.

Bills I love ya bro, but that's wrong. B1G is looking at media contracts leveraging up to nearly $40m a year per school with larger markets in the footprint.

Now who will be #14?

Sad day for B1G football fans. I don't give a crap how much $$$ each school will get, conference is getting watered down for the almighty dollar.

Because Missouri isn't as large of a TV market as DC.

ESPN has it as a done deal....

The University of Maryland Board of Regents unanimously approved a move to the Big Ten on Monday, a source tells ESPN colleague Brett McMurphy.

An official announcement is expected at 4 p.m. ET at the school's campus in College Park, Md.

Maryland must officially apply for Big Ten membership, and needs a yes vote by at least nine of the 12 Big Ten presidents/chancellors (80 percent required) for admission. This is basically a formality.

After two decades of relative quiet, the Big Ten is poised to expand for the second time in two and a half years. Rutgers is expected to follow Maryland, giving the league 14 members.

Man I hope RutgersAl sees this!

UMD has the Baltimore and DC markets, which are both bigger than any market in Missouri. That's another probably 10-12 million TVs.

Because the biggest market in MO already has the B1G stamp. StL has a ton of Illini fans and alums. The B1G wanted a national name at the time and the MO market isn't as good of leverage as MD for the next contract with ESPN and carriers.

Now for the SEC who wanted to move north and west it was a great fit.

It doesn't matter how many fans the team has, it still allows the B1G Network to collect the higher fees and gets them on the basic tier with ESPN in that market. That equals big money.

I posted in another thread what I think Delaney's vision is on this. This well could be the end game that forces ND's hand. The B1G takes MD and Rutgers. Then the B12 (who wants to grow badly so they can get a championship game back) throws the bank at FSU and Clemson (maybe even taking VA and VATech). The SEC grabs GTech and somebody else (Miami?). All of a sudden, ND's affiliation with the ACC isn't worth crap and they are forced to fully join a conference. When that time comes, no conference makes more sense for them than the B1G. So ND and BC join as the 15th and 16th teams. What's left of the ACC will join with the Big East in a basketball conference.

Maryland may seem insignificant, but once the first hole pops up in the dam...I expect FSU to bail. It's no secret they are interested in other opportunities. When FSU jumps, the ACC will disintegrate very quickly.

When the dust settles, the B1G network could be entrenched in Baltimore/DC, NY/NJ and Boston and has the national appeal of ND. This is the vision I would imagine is going through Delaney's head.