What first began circulating on Saturday following MSU’s loss to Northwestern is beginning to come true.
Maryland is headed to the Big Ten, effectively starting in the 2014-15 season.
“Adding the University of Maryland opens up a whole new set of doors for the Big Ten conference,” said MSU athletic director Mark Hollis, who sent 13 roses to his counterpart at Maryland to welcome the school to the Big Ten. “As strong as that program is and their history, I think there’s gonna be so much added value for the Big Ten institutions to find themselves in that marketplace.”
The move was approved by the Maryland board of regents. Rutgers is expected to announce its joining the conference on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy.
Expanding was a necessity for the Big Ten according to Hollis.
“It is a situation where, make no bones about it, we’re trying to be defensive in our posturing within the nation,” Hollis said.  “With the footprint of where the Big Ten conference is, the University of Maryland gives us a very strong hold, especially for the long term, on the east coast of the United States in a market that’s very important to every school in the Big Ten Conference.
“(They have a) very strong alumni base, very important to where our growth is going to be in the future.”
The expansion could spark talks of an expanded conference schedule but Hollis hopes the Big Ten doesn’t go the nine game route because the imbalance between five home games vs. five away could determine conference champions.
MSU and Maryland haven’t played each other in football since 1950 and the Spartans own a 4-1 record in the all-time series. The Spartans are 2-3 all-time against Rutgers and the teams played in both 2003 and 2004.
The MSU men’s basketball team is 3-2 all-time against Maryland with the last meeting taking place during the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Four of the all-time meetings between the schools have taken place at neutral sites. MSU won their only meeting with Rutgers on the hardwood, which came in 1970.
Maryland won a basketball national title in 2002 and would be the most recent member of the conference to win a hoops national championship unless one of the current Big Ten members win over the next two seasons.
Maryland’s football program is currently 4-7 after winning just two games last season. They have missed a bowl in three of the last four seasons. The last winning season for the Terps came in 2010 when they went 9-4.
Maryland’s basketball team hasn’t had a losing season since 1992-93 but has missed the NCAA Tournament each of the past two years.
Columnist Graham Couch wrote about the expansion in his column today and notes that the Big Ten won’t be finished after adding Maryland and Rutgers.
What are your thoughts on the move by the Big Ten?
Also this morning, MSU freshman guard Gary Harris was named the Big Ten freshman of the week. He averaged 18.5 points while helping the Spartans earn wins over No. 7 Kansas and Texas Southern.
And also here is a blog update from earlier today with the weekly look at how football recruits have performed.
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Referring to this Spartan Football season, my Dad used to call this phenomenon “snakebit” and I think it is just that, so I will leave the topic and not over analyze the whole fiasco.
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As for Maryland to the B1G – I am surprised.
Sweet jpeg there, Brian! Turtle soup!
Irrespective of the merits of Maryland or expansion in general, I think it makes no sense to have an odd number of B1G teams.
Brian, how do you think the divisions will be realigned, someone will have to move into the legends to put 7 teams on each side. Who will get moved in your guess, Purdue?
I’m not exactly sure but I think it might be something that won’t be dealt with until maybe two more schools are added to get the conference at 16 teams and make even eight team divisions. In my opinion going with an east/west split would seem logical so putting Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois, Minnesota and Indiana on one side and Purdue, Michigan, MSU, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland on the other side. Although the East side would be a very tough football division.
Ok, so you think they will add the last two at the same time, I thought maybe two years from now they would announce the last two teams for 2016-2017. And have to go two years with 14 teams, In any event I think Purdue gets sent to our division, MSU and Michigan are not going to be split up.
My question to the Spartan Nation…who would you rather have as your starting QB in 2013…A. Maxwell or D. Gardner ?…trying to figure out how Maxwell who as been in a system for 4 years struggles and Gardner playing WR gets plugged in at QB and plays like he’s all Big Ten…thoughts…
Gardner was the darling of UM’s 2011 Spring camp; it baffled me why he wasn’t DRob’s backup in 2012 (before now).
I think it’s pointless to ask whom we’d rather have unless Gardner had wanted to come to State. As Mr. Obvious would say: Maxwell will improve–or be removed–in 2013.
And the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round …
I like adding Maryland and Rutgers. I liken Maryland to Illinois and Indiana, in terms of being a stronger basketball than football school, and Rutgers is just up and coming in everything. They both add big markets, and academically are solid institutions. They both also have really strong women’s athletic programs.
Ha, I love the sarcasm.
Rutgers had a GREAT win 26-0 over Howard this year.
Strong
Thought maybe there might be someone out there that might be interested in this.
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Marine Corps forms new fighter jet squadron
http://news.yahoo.com/marine-corps-forms-fighter-jet-squadron-081946874.html
Thanks man, Peter Field has been in touch. The jet will be fine. New CO is right about the development issues, during my active duty years, the F-16, F-18, AV-8, and others who didn’t eventually make the cut went through the same kind of growing pains. mostly it’s problems caused by “the military environment” as opposed to the lab or other sterile environments. We don’t want it if it breaks when a rookie 2nd Lt bends it a little hard one hop.
Repost: Luv the nickname that the talent at BTN have for our own Markie Mark: they all call him Monkey Mike. Silverman stands behind him and tells him what to type, so technically he is abiding by Quicken Loan Lurker’s mandate, but in the spirit of the ban, I think not. $5.200 a year is a large for a janitor’s 10 minutes of typing (works out to $1.25M a work year, poor Monkey Mike is getting hosed), but we know who it is. Incidentally when he preempted the Spartan replay today for the monotonous, boring, and, unwatched Mary – land arrival, he laughed about it. This could be a great network, if it had a Leader, but Mark Silverman is a buffoon, he can’t keep his animosity towards the Spartans away from the business that is the BTN. He is by definition a joke.
This smacks of desperation from Indianapolis after Notre Dame left for their hybrid Big East whathaveyou… How long was this even discussed and negotiated by the Big Ten? A week? Its so obviously driven by money, which is just the reality nowadays.
A better fit that was sitting there last year would have been to grab Missouri and West Virginia. Much better geographic balance, and two good football and basketball schools…
jim delany will rot in hell.. right next to paterno..this is an evil man.
You need two more for your Mt Rushmore of hate.
that’s easy..O.J…and michael vick…what about bo..i could fill a whole mountain range..
Ed Martin, wearing a hat with a big block M on it
Mark Silverman and Ed Martin.
nice choice 81, I say Chris Webber and Jalen Rose
Desmond Howard and little sister, Mike Hart
well..we missed the texas southern game on BTN thanx to the incessant blubbering about maryland..it’s hilarious watching these talking heads extolling the virtues of the move..they are too afraid of that monster delany to say anything negative..with one exception..they interviewed a guy named decourcey on the phone..he said it was a bad move especially for maryland hoops..as he was talking, dave revsines face got redder..it looked like he was about to have a stroke..they couldn’t get that guy off the phone fast enough..the BTN and their greed is actually what’s ruining this conference
From trhe DFP:
“ESPN.com’s Brett McMurphy, who has broken developments in the story repeatedly, says that Illinois will move from the Big Ten Leaders Division to the Legends Division, joining Michigan and Michigan State, while Rutgers and Maryland will join the Leaders Division.”
So the Leaders gets easier than it is today.
yes, USMC, exactly right.
That’s true heard that on Glen Masons show two hours ago
UCLA getting beat down by GTown, once again proving that freshman are not always all that. Hey Markie, Mark, what has Geppetto got to say about his alma mater getting beat like a rented blanket before being used.
Markey Mark is showing fear, he fears that the Dantonio juggernaut which took a year off is coming back for another 4 out of 5. He knows that Dantonio will dominate the state and win 8 out of ten. Yes Markey Mark is a bitter frightened man, he is aware that he has awakened a sleeping giant. You can sense the fear in his tone, their is blood in the water Marine and the color of that Blood is Maize and Blue.
Markey Mark is frightened, yes frightened and will die alone staring at a photo of Rich Rodruigez.
Welcome to the B1G Maryland, and possibly Rutgers. Academically, both qualify and have intrinsic value with their heritage.
Being the frustrated football curmudgeon that I am, all the gab about the expansion is in the best interest of the B1G “brand” makes me laugh. The use of capitalist marketing terms being used by subsidized public universities trying to balance academic image while funding sports programs through TV HH’s is a sad sign of the times. We all know sports impact enrollment trends. Image if the B1G were just 12 strong schools with the best revenue sports teams in the land… keep dreaming. Academic standards and BCS Champion football teams are mutually exclusive IMHO.
I just consider the old question of quality or quantity? Being old school, protecting our “brand” and or “building our franchise” is about NYC and DC household penetration. The consequences are a water-down football product. Does Rutgers even have a B-Ball team? Adding ND or Pitt were the ideal candidates for expansion for the to B1G to go from 11 to 12. But that ship has sailed and ND’s national “brand” ain’t going into any conference anytime soon.
With Rutgers, The Big will have added, history, The First Team to Play an intercollegiate football game. Welcome Rutgers, The University of New Jersey.
They have a dormitory built way back in the day named after an ancestor.
Grandad USMC?
Mayo to put a bow on the Jerry Kill player incident at Minnesota. Understanding your viewpoint I was just parroting the local sports media opinion who cover the team. They have no loyalty to Kill, they roasted Brewster alive. This is primarily a Vikings town. The Canadian culture influence here of hunting , fishing and hockey leaves about a 30% smaller football pie here than in other Midwestern States. There is no successful football program to protect. They just basically like Kill and take his word over anyone else. Per my wife last night Kill is either telling the truth or an academy award winning actor. I doubt the latter as he is small town all the way.
So the local media due to that and the whinyness off Barkers letter called this as 80% Barker
20% Kill. Now they could be wrong, but until there is more evidence than a word on word that’s the prevailing thought here.
Thanks for the update. Don’t be too concerned with my rambling and disgruntled thoughts
Ahhh, I am unable to compartmentalize the season and in need of properly poured pint.
: Comparisons of Recent Disappointing Football Seasons: Week 13 Update
MSU was ranked 13th by the AP in August; it was the highest pre-season ranking for MSU since 1979—when the 10th-ranked Spartans finished 5-6 (with only one close loss).
More recent disappointing seasons of note include 2000 [AP #24 start to 5-6 final]; 2002 [AP #18 start to 4-8 final]; 2006 [preseason Big Ten #5 consensus to 4-8 (10th place) final]; and 2009 [preseason BT #3 consensus to 6-7 (6th place) final].
Through eleven games, it’s fair to say that 2012 has disappointed expectations at least as much as 2000. While â€00 had some bad losses, MSU was able to blow out Purdue on Senior Day—a team against which State was eight-point underdogs. I’ve tracked how each MSU team since 1996 was doing versus Las Vegas point spreads. After eleven games, the current week to week 2012 net is -44 points—a little worse than 2000’s total [-41].
I’m inclined to say 2009 wasn’t as disappointing as 2012 at this stage, either. The 6-5 Spartans were actually up slightly from their pre-season Sagarin rankings despite losses to CMU and Minnesota; played somewhat well against superior Iowa and Notre Dame squads; and (unlike EMU in 2012) left no doubt about Spartan superiority when playing cupcakes. The 2009 team was actually a net +18 against the spread at this point.
In contrast, the 2002 & 2006 teams were both 4-7 at this point—and MSU had begun looking for new head coaches in both years. (Both Williams and Smith were told their fates after their 6th and 5th losses, respectively. At that point, the coaches were a net -151 and -72 points AtS, respectively.
Unlike most Spartan fans, I’m willing to set aside the 2006 loss to Notre Dame, by itself, as a major travesty. Within those 60 minutes, it was no worse an overall coaching job than, say, IU’s coaching this year against MSU. The travesty was the response to that loss. One casual observer noted that the QB and others were heading into the stadium before the Illinios game dogged and with their heads down. It was obvious to that spectator who would lose. And, as it happened, the Illini loss was an embarrassment unmatched by anything seen in 2012—the first of a seven-game streak where MSU couldn’t match the odds-makers (or, in some cases, come remotely close). Still, it looks like MSU would be 10th in the B1G this year with a loss to the Gophers; if that happens, comparing ’06 to ’12 might have merit.
As for 2002: MSU would have to lose to Minnesota by about ten touchdowns for 2012 as a whole to get into that ZIP code. Period.
In fairness MSU is only the second team to lose 5 games by four points or less since 1996. 89 do you know who the other team is?
89, would also postulate that if MSU wins Saturday and makes a bowl the fan base will regard this as similar to 09, statistics aside.
If MSU wins the bowl, than fans would regard this as 07 with hope renewed
Only if we lose to Minnesota will this be regarded in the 00,02 or 06 category.
A to the Q: I do not know what other team that would be–and am not keen on checking several hundred schedules to find out.
This isn’t simply a look at stats. Preseason rankings reflect fans’ perceptions of what will happen as seasons play out. I think Bobby Williams [in his 1st year] got more of a pass in 2000 than MD is getting now–and rightly so.
I’ll consider the effect of 7-6 if it happens. For now, I’d rather have MSU play Mississippi State than any likely B-XII opponent.
Tons of Tweets re: the MD presser. Spartan Shadows better have a post on it today if they respect their readership…
81 will not allow the Spartans to lose in his backyard. By the way Spartans won the NC this year on Backyard Football on the Wii.
Solaris got a tweet box
He takes to the press
And when Chris gets home
He never gets no rest
Well he plays it all night
And the tweets are all right
Solari’s got a tweet box
That’s why he never sleeps at night.
Interesting tweets indeed…
Chris does an outstanding job at real-time communication of the relevant info. No BS
All the tweets together add up to a blog post that much is true. Maybe he could just put up one tweet as a new thread so people could talk about that subject. Some of us have to quickly flash the screen on and off , and it is too risky to scroll down all the tweets. I have to cut and paste a word post quickly to get in and out in ten seconds. Lots of folks in offices cant have the whole screen up with people walking by.