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ThruTheEyesOfRuby
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University of Maryland poised to join the Big Ten - The Washington Post
The University of Maryland was poised Sunday to end its 59-year affiliation with the Atlantic Coast Conference and jump to the Big Ten Conference, a move that would eliminate a number of the school’s longstanding college sports rivalries but, in the view of those behind the proposal, shore up the finances of an athletic department that has fallen on rocky budgetary times.
The Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland will meet early Monday morning in a private session in Baltimore to decide whether Maryland should join the 12-member Big Ten, which is looking to expand its geographic and financial footprint.
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Should the proposal pass, Maryland would next formally apply for membership in the Big Ten, whose Council of Presidents and Chancellors would then vote on the matter.
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While Maryland would almost certainly benefit financially with a move to the Big Ten, there has been a backlash from fans and alumni, who claim the school is jettisoning tradition in favor of money. A Facebook group titled “Keep UMD in the ACC!” had more than 1,500 members as of Sunday night. Len Elmore, an all-American on the men’s basketball team in the 1970s who now works as a basketball commentator for ESPN, lamented to The Washington Post late Saturday night that Maryland is “looking for a money grab.”