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Maryland and Rutgers are probably going to join the Big Ten. What? I know. According to reports from multiple outlets*, the Big Ten will absorb charter members from the two East Coast conferences, and just as it did last time, start up a whole new round of conference realignment. Expect the ACC to pluck another from the Big East (UConn's been believed to be next in line) and the Big East to just continue spackling.
* And quite a few others, some of them just as confused as we are. I mean, yeah, the whole thing's about those NEW YORK CITY TV SETS and their Washington D.C. counterparts. We're all smart enough to get that. Makes it not one bit less perplexing.
Thus far I'm sensing only Rutgers fans and cable TV execs are exited about B10 expansion
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) November 18, 2012
Plenty of loose ends remain to be tied up. Foremost, that $50 million the broke Terps would have to pay the ACC if they left (though that could be taken care of by some combination of Jim Delany and Under Armour). Remember, Maryland was one of three ACC schools to vote against the MEGAFEE in the first place -- this has been bubbling for a while now, with the ACC's pickup of a portion of Notre Dame apparently what Delany was waiting on. Then: what's this do to the Big Ten's divisions? Then many other things.
Excepting a matchup between Maryland and Rutgers themselves, here are our NON-B1G POWER RANKINGS of the most baffling future Big Ten games (road team first, home team second) -- we actually debated this for quite a while, but they're certainly open to further tweaking:
10. Wisconsin-Maryland
9. Illinois-Maryland
8. Maryland-Iowa
7. Rutgers-Michigan State
6. Rutgers-Nebraska
5. Minnesota-Maryland
4. Michigan State-Rutgers
3. Indiana-Rutgers
2. Michigan-Maryland
1. Nebraska-Rutgers
Also, Rutgers-Syracuse will now be a potential Big Ten-ACC Challenge game.
Your thoughts in the comments below, and I'd be happy to explain the inclusion of any of these as best I can. Some of them just are what they are, and we all float on.
But the really wacky part? We don't even have to try to make this all very, very strange:
It's not fair to gauge conference realignment possibilities based on "do you want to watch <candidate> versus <league doormat>?"
— David Wunderlich (@Year2) November 18, 2012
i.e. "Who wants to watch Maryland-Indiana? Or Minnesota-Rutgers?"
— David Wunderlich (@Year2) November 18, 2012
How 'bout this: do you want to watch Ohio State-Maryland? Yeah, me either, which is why UMD is a shaky Big Ten candidate.
— David Wunderlich (@Year2) November 18, 2012
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