Why did Maryland move to the Big Ten? Exploring the factors behind Terrapins' move to B1G

The Maryland Terrapins moved from the ACC to the Big Ten back in 2014, and judging by the scramble involved during this summer's conference realignment and expansion games, they made the right choice.

But why did they move away from the Atlantic Coast Conference back then?

In 2012, the Maryland Board of Regents was invited to join the Big Ten starting in 2013, and they accepted. The athletics department was operating under a deficit and had cut seven varsity sports up to that point.

The move was also made to bolster the struggling football team by exposing them to elite matchups. Primarily, it made sense financially. Wallace Loh, the school president at the time, confirmed the aims behind switching conferences.

“Today is a watershed moment for the University of Maryland,” Loh said, adding that the move would “ensure the financial vitality of Maryland Athletics for decades to come.”

Not everyone was happy with the Terrapins' conference switch. Johnny Holliday, who has been calling Maryland games since 1979, wasn't thrilled with the Terrapins' conference move.

“This is hypothetical, but if they were still (in the ACC), they would probably win championship after championship,” said Holliday. “I don’t think the ACC matches up in any way with the toughness of the Big Ten.”

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The Big Ten realignment games

The Big Ten has been one of the busiest conferences in the realignment and expansion games alongside the ACC and Big 12 that have gripped college sports, even potentially impacting college football playoffs.

In 2022, USC and UCLA began the dominoes falling after agreeing to move from the Pac-12 for the 2024 season.

Washington and Oregon joined soon after signaling the undeniable breakup of commissioner George Kliavkoff's Pac-12 after dithering on a television rights media deal allowing other conferences to poach programs from the embattled conference.

Tony Petitti, the Big Ten's commissioner, gave an insight into just how eagerly programs wanted to join the conference:

"Oregon and Washington, they had real intent; they were working hard to make it an option for them. They really wanted to be in the Big Ten. We felt that throughout the whole process."

After the addition of Oregon and Washington, Tony Petitti signaled the end of the expansion of his conference, and his satisfaction with the moves made.

"We all felt that whatever aspect we looked at, it made us better. It just became that process of trying to figure out how. My job is to make sure the conference is as great in the future as it is today. There are opportunities to protect that and make sure that we are going to get better," Petitti said.

The conference has one of the most lucrative media rights deals in sports, let alone college sports, perhaps indicating why it was so easy to attract elite programs into the fold.

The conference has a media rights deal that begins in 2025 with NBC, CBS and ESPN worth $7 billion, with programs slated to earn up to $100 million a year. Quite the decision by Maryland to join up all those years ago.