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Message: [QUOTE="kyleslamb, post: 35163, member: 895"] If you don't believe me, check out the USA Today college finances database. Total NCAA/conference payouts in 2009-10 academic year: Maryland $9.8 million Indiana $24.2 million Look it up: [URL='http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/ncaa-finances.htm']USA Today College Finances Data[/URL] These aren't hypotheticals I'm talking about. This is reality. The Big Ten's revenue stream is far greater right now. That's the reality of the situation. For a school like Maryland, this is absolutely a no-brainer in terms of money. I'm not saying money will be the only factor or that they will absolutely leave... but if it comes down to money, exit fees are a puny reason to stay given the large discrepancy in revenue. Take the above Indiana example, a bottom-tier football program in the Big Ten. They earned $24 million in conference payouts. Now look at some of the ACC teams: North Carolina ($11.1 million) Florida St. ($13.3 million) Virginia ($11.4 million) While these numbers will go up slightly as the ACC deal with ESPN just took effect, the Big Ten's numbers will also increase as their payouts from the BTN continue to get higher each year, and unlike the past 5 years where they were seeing no profits from the BTN deal (because all operating profits were going to News Corp. to pay back their initial investment), now that the investment is paid off, they will begin seeing 49% of the profits on top of their rights fees. And the Big Ten is due for a huge increase in 2015 when it becomes a free-agent from its tier-1/2 deal with ESPN. Point is, the ACC revenue will certainly get better, but if it comes down to money, it's not really a discussion. You can elect to not believe me, but Maryland has been having dialog with the Big Ten for a year. Whether that will result in their leaving is certainly not a given. But there's mutual interest at very least. [/QUOTE]

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