I understand all the fear and loathing

[Phillymoose]

This move has definitely caused major angst and insecurity within the ACC...

BUT ... What is the Big 10 thinking? This moves smacks of desperation. MD and Rutgers? Really - when they could have had Pitt, SU, WVU, VT, Miami, BC, or Louisville, etc. , they take MD and Rutgers?!

MD almost makes a little bit of sense. Almost - but a charter ACC member and southern school on the Eastern seaboard? It took me awhile to get my head around PSU in the Big 10, but MD is really out there.

This is so cynical on both the Big10 and MD's part. And don't get me started on Rutgers. Delaney is supposed to be the master strategist, and all he could come up with is MD and Rutgers? Now people are talking how UVA and UNC are in play for the B10 - well, why in hell wouldn't the B1G- just have gone after those 2 from the start if that's what they really wanted. Are we to believe that MD was more attractive... or just more vulnerable?

Here's the bottom line for me. This was bizarre late-comer move by Delaney. He isn't conference building so much as firing torpedoes into another conference to see if it collapses on itself. The risk is that the Big10 winds up with exactly what they've bought. MD and Rutgers... and then that's it.

If the dust settles, and the ACC stablizes around Louisville or Uconn, then the last laugh will most definitely be on Delaney - - who all along had the power to grab schools like Pitt, SU, WVU, BC, Vtech, etc., and would up MD and Rutgers.

Seriously, can you imagine either of these schools playing a B10 schedule?

And if you are MD... J-zus, you want to fix the $$ problem that your AD can't hire a competent football or basketball coach - by moving conferences? Really?

 

[orange79]

This move has definitely caused major angst and insecurity within the ACC...

BUT ... What is the Big 10 thinking? This moves smacks of desperation. MD and Rutgers? Really - when they could have had Pitt, SU, WVU, VT, Miami, BC, or Louisville, etc. , they take MD and Rutgers?!

MD almost makes a little bit of sense. Almost - but a charter ACC member and southern school on the Eastern seaboard? It took me awhile to get my head around PSU in the Big 10, but MD is really out there.

This is about the BTN and the ability to charge more per household. Rutgers stepped in - they weren't taken for their athletic prowess, just for their location. Good for them.

This is so cynical on both the Big10 and MD's part. And don't get me started on Rutgers. Delaney is supposed to be the master strategist, and all he could come up with is MD and Rutgers? Now people are talking how UVA and UNC are in play for the B10 - well, why in hell wouldn't the B1G- just have gone after those 2 from the start if that's what they really wanted. Are we to believe that MD was more attractive... or just more vulnerable?

Location, location, location

Here's the bottom line for me. This was bizarre late-comer move by Delaney. He isn't conference building so much as firing torpedoes into another conference to see if it collapses on itself. The risk is that the Big10 winds up with exactly what they've bought. MD and Rutgers... and then that's it.

If the dust settles, and the ACC stablizes around Louisville or Uconn, then the last laugh will most definitely be on Delaney - - who all along had the power to grab schools like Pitt, SU, WVU, BC, Vtech, etc., and would up MD and Rutgers.

We'll see. I hope you're right.

Seriously, can you imagine either of these schools playing a B10 schedule?

No

And if you are MD... J-zus, you want to fix the $$ problem that your AD can't hire a competent football or basketball coach - by moving conferences? Really?

$$ solves a lot of problems. Not all, but quite a few

Just my opinions.

 

[mantonio]

Rutgers will be a doormat in the B10, & they certainly will not get the NYC market away from Syracuse. The Big Ten is a day late & a dollar short...

 

[JeremyCuse]

This move has definitely caused major angst and insecurity within the ACC...

BUT ... What is the Big 10 thinking? This moves smacks of desperation. MD and Rutgers? Really - when they could have had Pitt, SU, WVU, VT, Miami, BC, or Louisville, etc. , they take MD and Rutgers?!

MD almost makes a little bit of sense. Almost - but a charter ACC member and southern school on the Eastern seaboard? It took me awhile to get my head around PSU in the Big 10, but MD is really out there.

This is so cynical on both the Big10 and MD's part. And don't get me started on Rutgers. Delaney is supposed to be the master strategist, and all he could come up with is MD and Rutgers? Now people are talking how UVA and UNC are in play for the B10 - well, why in hell wouldn't the B1G- just have gone after those 2 from the start if that's what they really wanted. Are we to believe that MD was more attractive... or just more vulnerable?

Here's the bottom line for me. This was bizarre late-comer move by Delaney. He isn't conference building so much as firing torpedoes into another conference to see if it collapses on itself. The risk is that the Big10 winds up with exactly what they've bought. MD and Rutgers... and then that's it.

If the dust settles, and the ACC stablizes around Louisville or Uconn, then the last laugh will most definitely be on Delaney - - who all along had the power to grab schools like Pitt, SU, WVU, BC, Vtech, etc., and would up MD and Rutgers.

Seriously, can you imagine either of these schools playing a B10 schedule?

And if you are MD... J-zus, you want to fix the $$ problem that your AD can't hire a competent football or basketball coach - by moving conferences? Really?

I think MD and Rutgers obviously made the correct decision and from a fanbase standpoint I understand there stoked especially Rutgers but from a logical standpoint this pretty much is the death knell for both fball programs. Maryland is allready a disaster and now instead of playing Virginia, NC State and Wake as second level teams now you get Mich State, NW, Minny, Wisky etc. Good luck.

For Rutgers I hope they enjoy this year because they will never sniff anything close to a BCS bowl game ever again. Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State, Wisconsin how in christ is Rutgers beating any of those teams save for maybe PSU while there on probation. Delaney is out of his mind if he thinks a 4-8 Rutgers team is brining anything close to the NYC market.

 

[rottweiler44]

Now people are talking how UVA and UNC are in play for the B10 - well, why in hell wouldn't the B1G- just have gone after those 2 from the start if that's what they really wanted. Are we to believe that MD was more attractive... or just more vulnerable?

Best point I have read on this all day...two financially desperate schools that are remarkably similar to one another, other than the fact that MD has actually had some on-field/court success in their past...

 

[Orangello]

Exactly what I said last week when this first came up. If UMD and The Girls are the best you can do then you have bigger problems.

 

[SouthernCuse]

We should be building up a serious hate for the B10. I already hate their boring little network that causes every AD and Chancellor in the country to wet their pants.

Think TCU, they were coming to the BE, but...a funny thing happened, before they got here they got a better offer.
So if PSU wants the conference to move east, why not offer SU?
Nope, guess they are not interested. If the B10 network can threaten a conference like the B12, then I suppose no conference is safe. I hope they get MD and Rutgers, have fun with that.

 

[PhatOrange]

I think MD and Rutgers obviously made the correct decision and from a fanbase standpoint I understand there stoked especially Rutgers but from a logical standpoint this pretty much is the death knell for both fball programs. Maryland is allready a disaster and now instead of playing Virginia, NC State and Wake as second level teams now you get Mich State, NW, Minny, Wisky etc. Good luck.

For Rutgers I hope they enjoy this year because they will never sniff anything close to a BCS bowl game ever again. Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State, Wisconsin how in christ is Rutgers beating any of those teams save for maybe PSU while there on probation. Delaney is out of his mind if he thinks a 4-8 Rutgers team is brining anything close to the NYC market.

Exactly right. Buttgers ain't selling out their stadium right now - 2 wins away from a BCS bid. If they're 9-1 in the big 10 with Ohio State coming to town then it would be crazy but it would be crazy in Boston College to under the same scenario. but if buttgers is 4-8 with Ohio State coming to town they'll be lucky to have 35K just like now.

The NY/NJ market wants a winner. If buttgers ain't a winner then the Big10 will have an east coast indiana on their hands - oops nope strike that - indiana has basketball. they'll have a northwestern on their hands. Doormat in both sports.

I don't see how either team increases the big 10 value. the big 10 network is already carried in NY - it's a subscription channel.

 

[RMH44]

I wonder if Delaney sent out any feelers to other schools (i.e. SU) previous to this announcement? If he did, once the dust settles, I hope the Good Doctor leaks the details of any overtures. This might help explain Phillymoose's point about "desperation" on the B1G's part.

I also wonder how big an effect ND's new affiliation with the ACC had the timing of all this.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Exactly right. Buttgers ain't selling out their stadium right now - 2 wins away from a BCS bid. If they're 9-1 in the big 10 with Ohio State coming to town then it would be crazy but it would be crazy in Boston College to under the same scenario. but if buttgers is 4-8 with Ohio State coming to town they'll be lucky to have 35K just like now.

The NY/NJ market wants a winner. If buttgers ain't a winner then the Big10 will have an east coast indiana on their hands - oops nope strike that - indiana has basketball. they'll have a northwestern on their hands. Doormat in both sports.

I don't see how either team increases the big 10 value. the big 10 network is already carried in NY - it's a subscription channel.

Two fold really, one it sends a message to the ACC and is likely also attempt to fold it by imploding it from inside. Second and I think more important Delaney is hoping by adding Rutgers and MD he can get the B10 network on as a regular channel in the DC/NYC market ie like ESPN. Thats why Rutgers was added, there really was no other option, UConn is a mess right now across the board and Pitt and SU are allready ACC committed, there was no other NE schools to add unless Vermont suddenly is playing D1 football. Delaney's mistake is that cablevision, TW, Comcast or going to laugh at the cost of making the B10 network a non subscription channel. And just wait till Michigan and Ohio State start complaining about RU and Maryland losing to Kent states and other scrub teams.

 

[Orangello]

I think the ACC's deal with ND is the principal driver of this move by the BiG. Once they understood they weren't getting ND they then had to go down their wish list and see who's left. The decision to take UMD was a direct attack on the ACC in the hope that other members might bolt for the door including possibly to the BiG. This really does smack of desperation more than anything.

 

[cuse522]

This move is not a desperation move, you've got to look at it beyond that. This move does a few key things.

1) It likely forces the ACC to make a lose-lose-lose decision. The ACC can take Louisville, hurting it academically and leaving it with a footprint that is shifting toward the Midwest - thus either leaving it vulnerable to a Big 12 raid of Louisville or able to raid the Big 12 (both just fine with the B1G). On the other hand, the ACC can take UConn and risk upsetting FSU and Clemson to the point that they consider bolting to the Big 12 or, if they can convince them, the SEC - again the ACC is more susceptible to being raided. Finally, the ACC can do nothing and stand pat for now at the risk of upsetting its members - again the ACC is more susceptible to being raided.

2) By making the ACC more susceptible to being raided, the B1G has increased its chances of eventually getting Notre Dame, and that's what this whole entire song and dance is really about. If Notre Dame starts seeing stories about FSU, Clemson, UVA, UNC and VT considering jumping ship, it might start leaning back toward the B1G. If any of those schools DO leave the ACC, it's likely to crumble. If the ACC crumbles, the B1G is the PROHIBITIVE favorite to land ND. I don't see any way that ND goes with the Big 12 over the B1G. Notre Dame is the last hot, single girl at the party, and after every remaining move in conference re-alignment, you have to look at ND and wonder how it is tied in to them.

3) It likely solidifies Penn State in the B1G by giving them a couple of East Coast buddies, who also just so happen to be a couple of schools the Nittany Lions can probably beat up on while they rebuild that program. There was some speculation that this move might have led to PSU leaving the B1G - no way Delaney wouldn't have given that serious consideration, as PSU would have been the biggest "free agent" if they started looking to get out of the B1G. If this move had anything to do with PSU, it solidified their stay in the B1G.

4) It expands the B1G footprint, making it much more conceivable that they could land one of the Virginia or Carolina schools out of the ACC.

Essentially, though, Delaney has forced the ACC to make a move that one way or another will upset some ACC schools and could set in action a chain of events that makes the ACC crumble and makes ND land in the B1G. I'm not saying that's LIKELY, but it is now MORE likely than it was a week ago.