Maryland to the Big 10: A potential mistake?

I usually use this blog to discuss politics but today I figured I would take a step back and talk about the deal that has sent my school, the University of Maryland, from the ACC to the Big Ten Conference. Maryland is a charter member of the ACC. If the math is correct, next year will be the school's 60th (and now last) season in the conference, which is a pretty big deal from where I sit.

Look, I honestly want to believe this is all for the best, that Maryland will end up being fine in the Big Ten, but I and many others have some serious concerns about this move that I feel have not been addressed by those in charge of making the decisions. So let's jump right into it.

1. The issue of the exit fee:
Maryland faces a $50 million fee just to get out of the ACC and join the Big Ten. Where is that money going to come from? The athletic department is, for all intents and purposes, BROKE! That's why we had to cut seven teams last year! Many people are saying the fee really won't be that high and Wallace Loh, our university president, is convinced that the amount would not hold up in court. Well Dr. Loh, how much would it cost this university in legal fees to find out the sum doesn't hold up in court?

Some have said that the Big Ten itself is willing to pitch in to cover some of the exit fee and others have even speculated that Kevin Plank, a UMD alum and the founder of Under Armour, will be paying a large portion of the fee. To Mr. Plank: If the rumors are true and you can afford to spend millions of dollars to help Maryland exit the ACC, how come you couldn't spend millions of dollars last year to stabilize the athletic department and save the teams which were ultimately cut?

2. The Revenue Sharing:
This move to the Big Ten is all about money. Dr. Loh said as much himself on Monday. But people are missing some key points! Everyone keeps saying "We're going to get $24 million from the Big Ten every year regardless of what happens with our own sources of revenue." Well that isn't quite accurate.

Nebraska just joined the Big Ten in 2011 and they are only receiving $14 million per year as a result. It will be a few more years before they receive "full membership" and thus full benefits. Maryland is expected to receive a similar deal, meaning that, at least for the first several years, our university would be earning LESS in the Big Ten than it now does under the ACC television contract, which has a value of over $17 million per year.

Finally, adding more schools to a revenue sharing pot means each school will be getting LESS money overall. There are claims that this could be offset by getting the Big Ten Network, the conference's TV station, to break into markets in Maryland, New Jersey and New York, but I don't see how that is going to work and bring in all that much more money. I already get the Big Ten Network in my Central Maryland home through Verizon Fios. The network won't be expanding into Maryland, it's already here.

3. The loss of fan base:
It is no secret that thousands of loyal Terps, including alumni, feel betrayed by the decision to change conferences, to just throw nearly 60 years of history, tradition and rivalries aside. To the people that say Maryland has no ACC rival, that we only imagine the rivalries we have with Duke, UNC and UVA, that doesn't matter. We think the rivalries exist and we get excited for and LOVE those games. With these teams no longer on the schedule every year, thousands of people are quite angry. And the reasoning "we can always schedule them for non-conference games" just doesn't hold water for me. Very rarely does a team schedule a non-conference game it thinks it could lose. Schools generally (but certainly not always) prefer weak non-conference opponents to pad their stats and records.

Currently this is an non-issue for me, as I get all of my tickets to home games for free, but once I'm no longer a student here at Maryland, I refuse to pay money to watch our football team get hammered week in and week out by the likes of Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State. One of my friends tweeted yesterday, "When Ohio State comes to play Maryland, it will be a sea of red, but not Terp red." And he's right. We can barely get Maryland fans to home games as it is now. I worked concessions at our home game against Florida State on Saturday. I'd have to say that well over half the crowd was there for FSU and they were the ones buying most of the food from us, not the Maryland fans.

4. Local recruits will probably not stay local:
I talked to a Maryland alum yesterday who is convinced that Maryland's move to the Big Ten will keep local recruits local. He said that instead of leaving Maryland to play for schools like Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State, that these recruits will now want to stay home so they can play against them for the hometown team. That's not how it's going to work! Local talent will not stay home to play against Michigan or Ohio State, it will still go to Michigan or OSU because Michigan or OSU has a dominating program! A program that can wipe the floor with Maryland.

5. Big Ten is a downgrade for our non-revenues:
For those who do not know what a "non-revenue" is, this is the term that applies to every college sport that isn't football or men's basketball. Some of these other sports may charge for admission, but the price is usually very low and the teams cannot cover their own expenses. At Maryland, I believe a regular season men's soccer ticket costs around $5. Women's basketball tickets are just $10 for the general public. Softball and field hockey are completely free.

The ACC is without question the best conference in men's soccer and for proof of that I can point to Maryland, UNC and Duke, three powerhouse men's soccer programs nationally. The Big Ten just isn't there. The same holds true for ACC women's soccer, although not necessarily with the same schools I mentioned for the men.

When it comes to field hockey, the ACC is the who's who of the sport. Going back to 1987, there have been just three NCAA Division I Field Hockey finals that did not feature an ACC team. 2008-2011 were all-ACC finals and Maryland and UNC played each other in the final in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Syracuse, joining the ACC next year, has a fantastic field hockey program. The only Big Ten school that jumps? Maybe Northwestern.

Lacrosse is going to take a huge hit, both men's and women's. Lacrosse is Maryland's sport and ACC teams such as UVA and UMD have been the teams one has to beat if they want to have a shot at a national title in that sport. In the Big Ten, lacrosse isn't even an official sport offered by the conference. So would we have to go independent in that sport then?

Men's basketball will probably end up being okay when it comes to competitiveness by the time 2014 rolls around, but the major criticism is that the style of play in the Big Ten is too slow and too boring. Plus, who wants to watch UMD vs. Minnesota? Not I. Women's basketball will have the same issue. On the bright side, they would be playing for the Big Ten in the annual Big Ten-ACC Challenge, which has seen the Big Ten come out on top in recent years.

Two last interesting pieces of information. The move to the Big Ten means that Byrd Stadium will become the 5th smallest football stadium in the Big Ten at 54,000 once you factor in the Rutgers stadium. Problem is, we can't even fill those seats! This is less than half of the capacity at Michigan, 109,901. And they fill that stadium every week.

Maryland will, however, have the 2nd largest basketball arena in the Big Ten, about 1,000 shy of Ohio State and about 230 more than Michigan.

Like I said, I really hope this move ends up working out for the best, although I will miss the ACC, but it just seems like there is too much that could go wrong. Basketball will probably stay competitive, but we'll be lucky if football ever wins again. And if the seven sports Loh cuts don't come back, there will be hell to pay.

The move also throws out years and years of history and tradition. And all of this for a few extra million dollars per year. With Wallace Loh, it's always about the money, the bottom line. Tradition doesn't seem to matter to him.

Jimmy Williams