I believe the landscape of college football is eventually gearing toward four big 16-team conferences, rather than the current six BCS conferences with automatic bids. If this is the case, the obvious two to get cut out are the Big East and ACC. The two conferences are perennially the bottom two conferences in football according to the amount of teams ranked in the top 25 polls, and rarely do they ever have a serious contender for the National Championship. Each of the other four conferences has at least one team, that is often a threat to win a national title. If college football is truly heading in the direction of four super conferences, I'm glad Maryland found a more stable home early. Maryland leaving the ACC is not an earth-shattering blow to the conference, but if Florida State or Clemson decide the grass is greener in another conference, the ACC might be in real trouble. As far as I'm concerned Maryland leaving the ACC is a bigger blow to the Big East because you have to figure the ACC will lure yet another Big East school away with Maryland's departure. Once any of these other ACC schools goes to another conference, the rest will follow, and there are already rumors of other conferences waiting to make big time offers to current ACC schools. I would absolutely miss playing Virginia, North Carolina, and Duke in many sports, but with the potential shift to new conferences, Maryland could find themselves in the same conference as one or more of those teams once again in the near future.
Along with the security of the more stable conference, financial security is impossible to overlook. The Big 10 has wanted Maryland to join their conference for a long time, and apparently are willing to pay dearly to make that happen. Maryland has had financial problems, and the money the Big 10 is willing to fork over to make this switch happen will allow Maryland to spend money flexibly, rather than endure financial hardship. Last year, Maryland had to cut seven varsity sports due to budget cuts. The switch to the Big 10 and the money that comes with it will allow Maryland to guarantee that never happens again, as well as potentially revive some of the programs cut last year, as some high ranking Maryland officials have already suggested.
Many people think football could just be a doormat in the Big 10. I think this will eventually improve Maryland football to be as good as ever. There is a ton of high school talent in the DC metro area that often go elsewhere to play their college ball. Before the move, local stars had to choose between staying at home, or playing on a big national stage. Is it possible that when these kids realize they can now do both they might be more likely to stay home? I think teams adapt to their new conference rather than the other way around. The best example I can think of this is Virginia Tech. When Virginia Tech announced they would leave the Big East and join the ACC, the popular prediction, including mine, was that Virginia Tech would just own the conference in football, but get destroyed in basketball. I remember a friend of mine who attended Virginia Tech at the time of the announcement talked to me about how easy it would be for them to win ACC championships in football. My reply was, "If you joined the ACC for the football, you're in the wrong conference." Turns out, not only was Virginia Tech hardly the juggernaut in football we expected, but they also turned out some pretty good basketball teams since their conference shift. Recruiting seems to reflect the teams one plays as much as the team itself, which leads to teams adapting to their new conference.
Ultimately, there are many more reasons to be excited about joining the Big 10, including creating new rivalries, bringing in high-end football teams to Byrd Stadium, and the possibility of playing in the Rose Bowl same day, albeit likely not any time soon. There of course are the negatives of leaving a conference they helped create, and leaving traditions behind. The bottom line for me, is that it's easy to understand why this was an offer Maryland couldn't refuse, and I can't wait to see the future Maryland football and basketball, and begin the next wave of traditions. As ESPN Radio Host and Maryland Alumni Scott Van Pelt said it best on his radio show today, "I love the ACC, but I love Maryland more."
