Big Ten grows to 14, with Maryland, and probably, Rutgers joining

It took the Big Ten Conference 19 years to expand from 11 members to 12 when it approved the admittance of Nebraska in June 2010.

Now in only a matter of weeks, the league is up to 14 members, counting Monday's official welcome of the Maryland Terrapins and the anticipated addition of Rutgers probably as early as Tuesday.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said the conference's Council of Presidents "unanimously and with great enthusiasm" approved Maryland's application to begin competition on July 1, 2014. The Terrapins were one of the founding members of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953.

When asked about adding Rutgers, Delany replied, "Today is Maryland's day and I won't have any comment about any other institution today."

However, various reports have Rutgers in, a development that is sure to rock the Big East as it tries to negotiate a new TV deal while Connecticut is making noise about leaving for the ACC and Boise State and San Diego State reportedly consider whether to stay with the conference for entry in 2014.

Meanwhile, the double move by the Big Ten expands the conference into two major Eastern markets, New York and Washington, and gives Penn State - approved to join the conference in 1991 as the lone Eastern outpost - two natural rivals in the Leaders Division.

Of course, the word "rival" is a relative term. In football, the Nittany Lions are 35-1-1 against Maryland and 22-2 versus Rutgers. The Lions haven't played the Terrapins since 1993. They last played the Scarlet Knights in 1995 and are scheduled to play at Rutgers in 2014.

In a statement, Dave Joyner, Penn State's acting director of athletics, said his university welcomes Maryland to the Big Ten "with tremendous enthusiasm."

"Maryland is a fantastic addition and to an already outstanding family of Big Ten institutions," Joyner said. "Our two institutions have a long history of collegiality and athletic competition and we're excited about future meetings as conference partners. We look forward to this new era for the Big Ten."

Maryland's shift happened quickly, in the last 21/2 weeks, according to university president Wallace D. Loh, and was done to assure "the long-term viability of Maryland athletics," which recently has had to drop programs because of budget concerns.

However, the change was met with disappointment from many Terrapins alumni who do not want the university to move out of the ACC, and left them questioning how the school will pay a $50 million exit fee recently adopted by the ACC, a hike that Maryland voted against.

Loh indicated the fee was subject to discussion.

"As we crunched those numbers, we are able to deal with that issue," he said. "As far as the exact amount, it is something we will discuss in private with the ACC. There will be discussions between their team and our team."